Baltimore officials presented a 10-year plan Tuesday that sharply highlights the poor health status of African-Americans and aims to bring black rates of lead poisoning, heart disease, obesity, smoking and overdoses more in line with those of whites.
鈥淲e wanted to specifically call out disparities鈥� in racial health, said Dr. Leana Wen, who became the city鈥檚 health commissioner early last year. 鈥淎nd we have a moonshot. Our moonshot is we want to cut health disparities by half in the next 10 years.鈥�
Black Baltimore leaders praised Wen for putting disparities squarely in the conversation even as they acknowledged the difficulty of achieving the plan鈥檚 goals.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big challenge. There鈥檚 no debating that,鈥� said聽Diane Bell-McKoy, CEO of Associated Black Charities, a Maryland nonprofit. 鈥淪he takes a step forward more so than anybody else I鈥檝e seen because she calls it out. Most of the time we find code words for it. We don鈥檛 call it out.鈥�
Violence last year following the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died after being injured in police custody,聽聽as well as its criminal justice differences, officials said. Gray鈥檚 family had won a settlement for alleged lead-paint poisoning, which is blamed for low test scores and cognitive challenges among thousands of Baltimore children.
鈥淲hat happened last year with Freddie Gray put Baltimore in the national media spotlight,鈥� said Helen Holton, a Baltimore councilwoman who represents a portion of the city鈥檚 west side. 鈥淭hat made people stop and take notice of what had been going on and stop treating it as business as usual.鈥�
罢丑别听, called Healthy Baltimore 2020, was聽聽by the Baltimore Sun. Officials plan to track blood-lead levels, overdose deaths, child fatalities, healthy-food availability and other indicators year by year. It鈥檚 called Healthy Baltimore 2020 because officials have set ambitious goals to achieve before 10 years is up, Wen said.
Tentative targets include cutting youth homicides by 10 percent and disparities in obesity, smoking and heart-disease deaths by 15 percent 鈥� all by 2020.
Tactics include more programs to reduce street violence, expanded anti-smoking campaigns, more home visits for pregnant women and increased access to naloxone, which blocks the effects of heroin.
The blueprint is 鈥渁n ongoing document鈥� that will be amended with community participation and results closely scored, Wen said.
鈥淥ur community is sick of us overpromising and underdelivering,鈥� she said.
Baltimore officials have made substantial progress in聽,听濒辞飞别谤颈苍驳听聽and cutting聽.
But as in many other areas, Baltimore is still divided by health. Residents of Gray鈥檚 west-side neighborhood of聽聽live 10 years less on average than Marylanders in general. Poor neighborhoods have far higher rates of heart disease, diabetes, addiction, HIV infection and other illness than more prosperous parts of the city.
Black leaders emphasized that Baltimore鈥檚 health won鈥檛 improve unless policymakers address deeper causes of illness such as poverty, unemployment and poor housing.
鈥淚t is affirming to see someone in Dr. Wen鈥檚 role address the uncomfortable truths behind health inequities,鈥� said Debbie Rock, CEO of LIGHT Health and Wellness, which offers health and other community services on Baltimore鈥檚 west side. 鈥淭his is a great platform to also address upstream factors鈥� such as low incomes, she said.
Holton compared the health blueprint to a聽聽alleging a pattern of excessive force and violation of constitutional rights by the Baltimore Police Department.
Both documents address racial differences and offer challenges for improvement, she said.
鈥淵ou can travel 5聽miles from one neighborhood to another and it鈥檚 like you are in two different communities鈥� in health levels, Holton said. 鈥淔reddie Gray was like the tipping point. Let鈥檚 take this and make it a teachable moment of how to be better moving forward.鈥�