Editor-in-Chief Alan Weill as part of the Health Affairs Policy Spotlight series, https://www.healthaffairs.org featured Admiral Rachel L. Levine, HHS Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) https://hhs.gov/ash.
They both discussed several issues which have been featured in the news. These topics included how climate change can affect health, importance of achieving health equity, improving the critical issue of mental health in this country, discussion on transgender issues, and how vast improvements have been made in treating individuals with HIV.
On May 31, 2022, HHS established an Office of Environmental Justice to better protect the health of disadvantaged communities and vulnerable population on the frontlines of pollution and other environmental health issues.
Assistant Secretary Levine, discussed how the Office of Environmental Justice within the Office of Climate Change and Health Equity is going to help strengthen and safeguard the health and well-being of the population when confronted with climate change.
As the Assistant Secretary pointed out, “Millions in the U.S are at risk of poor health because they live, work, play, learn, and grow in or near areas of excessive pollution and other environmental hazards. Changes can possibly occur in terms of extreme heat injuries, impact of storms and flooding, and as a result, climate change can affect inequities and health disparities.
The Assistant Secretary also discussed how mental health issues related to climate change can be affected by COVID-19. So it is necessary to move forward by enabling physical health and mental health professionals to work on the serious mental illnesses that can affect not only the population in the U.S., but also can affect the world.
As the Assistant Secretary reports, HHS is working hard to transform mental health. It is absolutely vital to deal effectively with the shortage of mental health workers which are underpaid. It is equally important to support primary care but also to include mental health if needed as part of the treatment when treating physical health issues. It is also vital to expand the workforce, expand broadband, and also importantly further develop an effective payment model.
In discussing how it is so important to champion the rights of the LGBTQI+ community, Assistant Secretary Levine pointed out, there is an important need to deal with LGBTQI+ Equality. On June 15, 2022, President Biden signed an Executive Order to Advance Equality for LGBTQI+ Individuals and welcomed LGBTQI+ families, advocates, elected officials, and leaders to the White House for a reception.
As for another important issue, both Alan Weil and the Assistant Secretary discussed the HIV epidemic and pointed out, there has been amazing progress in medicine in order to effectively treat HIV, but even so, even today, many still die from HIV.
HHS is encouraging people with HIV who are not in care to seek and stay in care in order to achieve viral suppression. As pointed out, in order to keep moving forward to make more progress with HIV, there needs to be more consistent funding.
When dealing with HIV, communities need to not only work effectively at the community and local levels, but also thoroughly address health equity issues in the most vulnerable communities affected by HIV.