The National Institutes of Health (NIH) unveiled a far-reaching plan last week to combat systemic racism in the agency and in medicine as a whole.
Among the efforts the agency said it will undertake going forward is the appointing of a “lead staff member for diversity, equity and inclusion” at each of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centers. The agency says these staff members will hold individual institutes accountable and will track their diversity efforts.
The NIH will also be “publicly identifying and correcting any NIH policies or practices that may have helped to perpetuate structural racism.”
The NIH says its framework includes understanding barriers, developing robust health disparities/equity research and changing the extramural ecosystem so that diversity, equality and inclusion are reflected in the biomedical workforce, among other things. “We take this opportunity to acknowledge that structural racism has been a chronic problem in our society, and biomedical science is far from free of its stain,” the agency’s document begins.
The document cites the death of George Floyd, the shooting of mostly Asian-American women in Atlanta earlier this year and “racially motivated violent deaths of other people of color” as motivations for this increased commitment to racial equity. It also says the COVID-19 pandemic “brought into stark and disturbing focus the racial injustices that have been allowed to persist in the United States for more than four centuries.”
Systemic and structural racism are a huge challenge to the health of our nation. #NIH is taking an active stance against racism in all forms. https://t.co/YANGgfMyg8 (1/3)
— Francis S. Collins (@NIHDirector) March 1, 2021
In March, NIH Director Francis Collins issued a personal apology to all those affected by systemic racism in biomedical research. The agency said it has launched a number of initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion, including more than 60 ongoing efforts in the “extramural sphere.” (RELATED: Top Navy Officer Refuses To Condemn Idea That White People Created HIV In Testy Exchange Over Critical Race Theory)
Tens of millions of dollars will be thrown behind the new efforts, including a new five-year, $60 million Common Fund program to support projects aimed at reducing health disparities and inequalities. $30 million will be committed to solicit projects to understand and address the impact of structural racism and discrimination on minority health and health disparities.
The document cited President Joe Biden’s policies as one spark for the changes: “Our agency’s commitment is consistent with an executive order signed by President Joseph R. Biden shortly after his inauguration on January 20, 2021. That order aims to advance racial equity and support for underserved communities through the federal government.” (RELATED: Psychoanalytic Medical Journal Publishes Article That ‘Whiteness’ Is A ‘Malignant, Parasitic-Like’ Condition)
“The time for NIH to take an active stance against structural racism is long overdue,” the plan also said. “NIH can no longer look the other way.”