By Vivian Shipe
KNOXVILLE, TN — They have been in the field from the beginning of the pandemic. Essential workers, battling to save lives and prevent deaths thru testing. Doctors, educators, nurses, clinicians, nurse practitioner’s, researchers, statisticians, Their war is two fold, they fight to save lives and they fight to save their own people, for these are African Americans leading this charge. Undeterred , they have been waging a war against COVID-19 since March when the killer disease first reared its head. All over the country they have served in and outside of hospitals. Now, the battle takes a new turn.
As the promise of a vaccine appears to be around the corner, the need to make sure the most adversely affected population will be on board to take the shot when its made available is a priority concern. African Americans have been in the most vulnerable category all thru the pandemic. Many older established churches have remained closed due to the number of elderly members in the congregation and many elderly are dying of a broken heart; just stopping , the desire to live slipping away as the isolation, the lack of touch , and the need to be around another human being overwhelms those living alone and in nursing homes. These along with medical concerns make the need to educate and eradicate this disease paramount.
On December 10 and 11 representatives from all these fields will join together to discuss the virus, the vaccine, and how to present facts over fiction in a world wide conference on disparities with the main focus: COVID-19.
The conference will be sponsored by the Faith Leaders Initiative thru cares grant monies from CONNECT Ministries and the Morehouse School of Medicine. The two day conference will feature leaders who have been working across the country on different aspects of the virus. Many panels and abstracts will be presented including two pieces on state policy recommendations for the faith based community and creating health ministries for educating the general public. Another important piece will be the education project that will be kicking off under the direction of New Direction Healthcare Solutions.
The need to build a trust among African Americans to take the vaccine will be addressed in a national kickoff of the VACImpact project designed to develop partnerships in the communities to help inform people about the vaccine and identify roles that community leaders can share and create a national database to track the effectiveness of the efforts. The project has been called a road map project to reach a special population and one that can be used nationwide. “Making an impact by educating African Americans and people of color about COVID-19 Vaccines is critical.” said Cynthia Finch, who has created the VAC Impact project. Its all about trust.
The trust factor must be addressed as many have not forgotten the Tuskegee Syphilis Study in 1932 where African American men were part of a study that lasted over 40 years. Those involved in that study were not given all the facts about the purpose of the study or informed consent. The African American Doctors and professionals involved in this conference and their counterparts across the country have a huge task to educate the people about the need to take the shot. African Americans make up 13% of the population but account for 21% of deaths due to COVID-19.
According to an article in the November 26th New England Journal of Medicine on trustworthiness and the black community, Black doctors are the best way to build trust in Black communities. This statement came from presidents of historically black medical colleges. The clarion call to have other HBCUs join in the effort to build trust will be reflected in the conference held to educate and build that very needed trust among a people who have every reason to be wary.
