Each year, the Equal Health Opportunity Committee (EHOC) of APHA conducts a scientific session during the Annual Meeting to draw attention to health disparities that have a significant effect on the health of members of marginalized communities.  EHOC, a standing APHA committee that was created in the 1970s, is charged with ensuring and promoting equal access for all to health services, health careers, and opportunities to participate in the development of health policies. This committee also works to promote and monitor equal opportunities and representation within APHA.

Last November, the title of the EHOC scientific session was Health Disparities: Politics, Policy and Public Health, mirroring the theme of the Annual Meeting.  A panel of nationally recognized leaders discussed the political and economic drivers of health disparities and social injustices, as well as ways to address these problems through policy and practice to an audience that packed the room. The panel was moderated by Dr. Alvaro Garza of the San Mateo, Calif. Health Department and presenters included: Dr. Stephen Gilson, University of Maine at Orono; Makani Themba Nixon of The Praxis Project; Dr. Elena Rios, National Hispanic Medical Association; and Dr. Maria Idali Torres, University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Dr. Gilson, a member of the Disability Section, presented on his area of expertise, explanatory legitimacy theory, using it to explain policy issues that create injustice in the health care system. He applied the theory to problems experienced by people with disabilities, after presenting data that demonstrate disparities experienced by this population in accessing health care. The other presenters built on this theme of social injustice in health care for various groups, as well as remedies.

The session was co-sponsored by the Public Health Nursing Section, the LGBT Caucus and the Asian-Pacific Islander Caucus.