Morehouse School of Medicine joins the Save Our Selves (SOS) Council to drive help to Black Communities’ Fight against COVID-1

[Atlanta, GA] The Morehouse School of Medicine has joined the Save Our Selves (SOS Council) to drive information-based change to Black communities fighting historically disproportionate health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The SOS Council is composed of Black influencers, technologists, healthcare professionals, business owners, and policymakers concerned about the health of Black Americans. SynsorMed, a Black-owned health tech startup was instrumental in founding the SOS council.

Dr. Dominic H. Mack, director of the National Center for Primary Care and professor of Family Medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine said of the project, “African Americans and other vulnerable communities traditionally suffer worse health outcomes before, during, and after pandemics and other disasters. We must begin to evaluate and find solutions that will empower our communities to overcome the disparities that impact equitable healthcare. The SOS Council is a step in that direction, and we believe this initiative can make a real difference.”

“Dr. Mack and Morehouse School of Medicine are uniquely positioned to make sure we have the data we need to drive resources and policy change where it is needed most,” SysnorMed CEO and SOS Council co-founder Theodore Harvey noted.

The SOS Council is in the first of three phases of work: a nationwide study of Black Americans to determine the highest needs, and a telemedicine matching service to connect people to remote medical care. Phase 2 will be raising and directing investments to areas of need as identified in the survey, and Phase 3 will focus on policy change.

“This has never been done before,” Harvey says, “This is the first nationwide study that will collect true, accurate information regarding Black Americans’ health status so that health care resources can be directed where they’re needed most.”

“The history of health disparities for Black Americans is a long one, and the impact of structural inequities on Black communities during COVID-19 has been alarming,” Harvey said. “We are getting the virus at higher rates and dying at higher rates. We cannot give in to despair. It’s time to Save Our Selves.”

This announcement comes on the heels of information released by the CDC (as a result of a New York Times lawsuit) documenting dramatic disparities in infection and mortality rates among Americans, and an announcement of a $40 million grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services to the Morehouse School of Medicine to tackle COVID-19 in Black and other vulnerable communities in the United States.