About National Minority Health Month
April is National Minority Health Month
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S.C. DHEC Office of Minority Health promotes the observance of National Minority Health Month, which is based on the Ohio Commission on Minority Health’s model designed to:
- promote healthy lifestyles;
- provide crucial information to allow individuals to practice disease prevention;
- showcase the resources for and providers of grass roots health care and information;
- highlight the resolution of the disparate health conditions between the State ’s minority and non-minority populations; and
- to gain additional support for the on-going efforts to improve minority health year round.
History
In 1914, as a result of the collective and individual efforts of African-American leaders who recognized the link between health, and social and economic well being, Dr. Booker T. Washington initiated Negro Health Improvement Week, which evolved into National Negro Health Week and the National Negro Health Movement. The first National Negro Health Week was recognized in April 1915.
National Negro Health Week was sustained and flourished by the broad-based participation of a multitude of organizations: schools, churches, businesses and worksites, local health departments, professional associations, the media, and civic groups. While the Week originated at Tuskegee Institute, the support from the United States Public Health Service was critical to sustaining the effort over time. However, while there existed standardized materials and a framework for the Week, there was also the freedom for local observances to modify their activities to suit their needs. This combination of governmental support, collaboration among a multitude of organizations, and freedom to develop a campaign appropriate to individual communities suggests a model for community-based public health today.
In April 2001, the National Minority Health Month Group, in partnership with the federal Office of Minority Health, launched National Minority Health Month (NMHM) in response to and in support of Healthy People 2010, the national health promotion and disease prevention agenda promulgated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The subsequent passage on October 3, 2002 by the 107th Congress of a joint resolution (H. Congressional Resolution 388) to establish a National Minority Health and Health Disparities Month lends to this movement the recognition of the Legislative Branch that a national focus of the health status on these specific populations is an essential component of national policy.
In recognition of National Minority Health Month, the SC DHEC Office of Minority Health proudly presents its annual minority health month calendar. The Calendar of Events highlights health promotion and disease prevention activities across the state to promote optimal health and wellness for South Carolina’s communities of color.