News & Media

Let’s consider the facts. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), across the U.S., hospitalization rates due to Covid-19 for non-Hispanic Blacks and American Indians, as well as Hispanics and Latinos, was approximately 5 times higher than that of non-Hispanic white people. Why? These populations have higher rates of underlying health conditions, such as heart disease, Type II diabetes, and obesity. 

People of color are also more likely to live and work in environments that contribute to these underlying conditions.  For example, poorer individuals are often employed as low wage, essential workers and live in crowded and sometimes less sanitary housing and in neighborhoods with less access to nutritional food and healthcare, among other key necessities for healthy living.  

Finally, the Black Lives Movement has once again turned attention toward the impact of systemic racism on health, which was first documented by social medicine scholars in the mid- 19th century. 

But what’s this got to do with supply chain?  A lot, if you think more broadly about the fundamental capabilities of the supply chain and logistics profession.