Advocating for health equity in family medicine

Image of doctor In Consultation With Male Patient In Office.

Government policies affect health. As such, policymakers should consider their health implications.

All people should attain the highest level of health. To work toward this, family physicians advocate for policies that:

  • advance health equity

  • emphasize preventive health

  • manage chronic conditions

The AAFP supports Health in All Policies as a strategy to improve population health and advance health equity, and has developed a toolkit for physicians through the EveryONE Project.

$93B

Analysis estimates that disparities stemming from health inequity lead to approximately $93 billion in excess health care costs and $42 billion in lost productivity each year, as well as economic losses due to premature deaths.

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Because research clearly documents that racial and ethnic minorities in this country bear greater burdens of illness, disease and death, the AAFP works on several fronts to mitigate health inequity, including systemic racism.

The AAFP is committed to developing strategies that promote health equity through identifying and incorporating social determinants of health (SDOH) in all health care delivery systems.

Recent AAFP communications

Joint communications with other organizations

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