The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health is partnering with of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta in a new $40 million initiative to fight COVID-19 in racial and ethnic minority, rural and socially vulnerable communities. Under the agreement, the Morehouse School of Medicine will coordinate a strategic network of national, state, territorial, tribal, and local organizations to deliver COVID-19-related information to communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
The initiative – the National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities (NIMIC) – is a three-year project designed to work with community-based organizations across the nation to deliver education and information on resources to help fight the pandemic. The information network will strengthen efforts to link communities to COVID-19 testing, healthcare and social services and to best share and implement effective response, recovery, and resilience strategies.
Alex Azar, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services said that “this new partnership between the Morehouse School of Medicine and our Office of Minority Health will work with trusted community organizations to bring information on COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and other services to the Americans who need it.”
Jerome M. Adams, Surgeon General of the United States, added that “we know the power of partnerships to help us solve our most pressing public health challenges. This initiative has at its core the community-based organizations who know their people best and who are committed to working collaboratively to reduce health-inequities and make them healthy and safe.”
