Body Politic & 130+ other disability organizations have responded with a letter to express our horror & disappointment at recent remarks by CDC Director Walensky & outline policy shifts the CDC must make to rebuild trust with the disability community: wearebodypolitic.com/bodytype/2022/…
"People w/4 or more comorbidities are people w/disabilities. People with 4 or more comorbidities are also disproportionately Black people, Indigenous people, Latina/o/x & other people of color, poor people, older people, & people who experience intersecting forms of oppression.."
"...marginalization that create barriers to quality healthcare, stable housing, & more."
"Describing the deaths of people with four or more comorbidities as 'encouraging' because they were 'unwell to begin with' encapsulates the exact problem...The public health response to #COVID19 has treated people with disabilities as disposable."
"The disproportionate deaths our community has faced are the result of systemic failures that we have seen over and over again since the start of this pandemic...The dismissal and devaluation of people with disabilities has been our daily experience throughout this pandemic."
"It is necessary for the public health of our nation that the CDC and other agencies responding to the pandemic take immediate, concrete policy steps to rebuild that trust, protect disabled and high-risk people, and enact an equitable vision of pandemic recovery..."
"We urge you to take the following actions to help rebuild our trust in this critical institution and get our pandemic response on the right track..."
"1) Commit to regular ongoing meetings and consultation with disability stakeholders and CDC Leadership.....
2) Ground isolation guidance in public health evidence and data and in an understanding of their impacts on those most at risk..."
2) Ground isolation guidance in public health evidence and data and in an understanding of their impacts on those most at risk..."
"3)Take action to center people with disabilities—and other communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19—by ensuring that all CDC COVID-19 guidance and other response efforts are inclusive of the needs of people with disabilities."
Follow the link above to read the full letter, organized with @autselfadvocacy, & more detail about the three steps.
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