WASHINGTON, July 28, 2020 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — The National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) is convening a virtual Congressional Briefing, “HHS Response to COVID-19: Efforts or Latinos with Heart and Lung Diseases” with presentations from Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida, VADM Jerome Adams, MD, MPH, U.S. Surgeon General, and Gladys Velarde, MD, FCC. They will present their priorities for the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) to assist hotspots in the U.S. with healthcare services and workforce to battle the COVID-19 pandemic. Latinos are now 60 million, the largest ethnic group, and have severe underlying diseases with few physicians and hospitals that make them more susceptible to acquiring the virus, and dying from it.
NHMA is working with Aetna Foundation, an affiliate of CVS Health to also announce their “Stop Vaping Campaign” to decrease lung disease in youth to teach them that they can lessen COVID-19 impact too.
“We need the Federal support for more providers, services and education about COVID-19 pandemic in our communities,” stated Dr. Elena Rios, President & CEO, NHMA. “This past week cases spiked in one of the poorest areas of the nation, Rio Grande Valley,Texas, that lacks adequate health care services for the area’s 1 million population.”
In addition, it is expected that the Senate and Congress will negotiate for a new COVID-19 bill in the coming weeks to bring needed relief to our communities with more healthcare supplies and support for schools, small businesses and individuals.
NHMA is partnering with Amgen and Pfizer Inc on the briefing to bring more healthcare policy-development about Latinos with lung disease and heart disease patients for HHS programs that target COVID-19 mitigation, testing, and the enrollment of people in clinical trials that are moving closer to developing a vaccine.
The Congressional Briefing will occur July 29th, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EDT
To join the Zoom webinar go to: https://bit.ly/NHMACongressionalBriefing
The event will also be on NHMA Facebook Live.
About NHMA
Established in Washington, DC, NHMA represents over 50,000 Hispanic physicians with the mission to improve the health of Hispanics and other underserved. For more information go to www.NHMAmd.org
SOURCE National Hispanic Medical Association
