The new AMA policy recognizes racism as a social determinant of health and describes three tiers of racism: systemic, cultural and interpersonal.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten hard-hit minority communities, the nation’s largest association of doctors has passed a policy that recognizes racism as a public health threat?

The new policy recognizes racism as a social determinant of health and highlights the health disparities and lack of access to health care that have significantly hindered good health in Black and other historically marginalized communities in the U.S.

Each pose specific barriers to quality medical care and good health and hinder the advancement of health equity, the group wrote.

The AMA also implored its medical professionals to identify strategies to mitigate racism’s health impacts, teach future doctors about racism in medical school curricula and support policy development for researching the issue.

“Essentially, with COVID, the Band-Aid was ripped off our health care system,” said Dr.

Otis Brawley, a renowned oncologist and professor of oncology and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University, has been studying health disparities and treatments in Black people and minorities for three decades.

He said the results showed “Black women treated for breast cancer lost two-thirds of disparity that Black women treated in the real world of the United States had.

“We need to get good care for Black people," he continued

“The fact that the scientific community has said that racism is in fact a public health matter — what that suggest is that this is no longer a grassroots political talking point,” he said