Washington, D.C. (03.09.16) — The International Black Health Alliance (IBHA) made its debut (3/3-3/6) in Bermuda during the meeting of the International Black Women’s Public Policy Institute (IBWPPI). Brenda Darcel Harris Lee, former President and CEO of the California Black Health Network, will lead IBHA as its founding CEO.
Ms. Lee said that IBHA’s focus will be the growing health concerns of Black people around the world.
“For more than five years, I had the honor and privilege of leading the California Black Health Network,” Ms. Lee told the IBWPPI audience. “We were committed to reducing the health disparities of marginalized communities and addressing policy changes impacting the health of California’s African-Americans. I am excited about applying this knowledge and experience with the skills and talents of my new team as we serve a diverse population of Black people throughout the nation and the world.”
IBHA shares the World Health Organization position that “overt or implicit discrimination violates one of the fundamental principles of human rights and often lies at the root of poor health status. Discrimination causes and magnifies poverty and ill-health.”
“The health disparities experienced by Black populations in the United States, Bermuda, Belize, across the African continent and beyond, are not that different,” Ms. Lee said. “IBHA will be advocating for access to affordable care, appropriate management of chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and cancer, and influencing policy change at the highest levels so that Black people everywhere can achieve the optimum for their personal health and well-being.”
Ms. Lee serves on IBWPPI’s board. She made her remarks during a presentation on the state of Black women’s health and wellness during IBWPPI’s annual planning meeting in Bermuda on March 3-6, 2016.
“On the African continent, life expectancy for many Black women is only 58 years,” said Ms. Lee. “In many other nations, it’s as high as 80 years. In the 12 mid-southeastern states that make up the “Stroke Belt” in the U.S., 64 percent of Black women have high blood pressure. Black babies are dying at more than twice the rate of white babies. These statistics must change.”
Ms. Lee wants IBHA to be the global voice for Black people everywhere, ensuring that their health and well-being does not go unnoticed. While in Bermuda, she talked with Bermudian women leaders about the health concerns of women on the island nation and how IBWPPI and IBHA can support them.
In order to fulfill its mission, IBHA also launched the Black Health Today Speakers Bureau. IBHA speakers will include medical doctors and other health experts who have the expertise to discuss the state of black health globally. To book a Black Health Today speaker for conferences, conventions, meetings and events, call Faye Hill, director of the IBHA Black Health Today Speakers Bureau, at (214) 205-7514.
For more information about IBHA, visit our website at www.theibha.org.The International Black Health Alliance is headquartered in Washington, DC, with satellite offices in Elk Grove, Calif., Dallas, Texas, and Huntsville, Ala.
For more information about IBHA, contact:
David Person – Director, Communications & Media Relations at IBHA
Phone: (256) 701-2594
Fax: (877) 585-4842
Email: dpersonibha@gmail.com
