Pediatricians wield the superpower of advocacy to combat failed social policies, inequities, misinformation and more, AAP President Benjamin D. Hoffman, M.D., FAAP, told thousands of members attending the opening plenary session Saturday at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition.
“We see some things every day, all day, all week, all month, as the ultimate witnesses to failed social policy,” Dr. Hoffman. “There comes a time when enough is enough, and we get spurred into action. The burden of this constant bearing witness activates that latent advocacy gene, combining with our love for kids and our experience and expertise, releasing the true hero within all of us.”
Advocacy starts in the exam room or at the bedside by addressing concerns of a patient or family and extends as influence in communities or legislation, he said. For Dr. Hoffman, advocacy work initially involved injury prevention related to car seat use and water safety.
Pediatricians possess superpowers such as an undying love for kids and mastery of the science of pediatrics. But these aren’t enough to combat the obstacles that contribute to a crisis in the pediatric workforce, inequities, misinformation, the well-being of pediatricians and more.
AAP policy statements protect science and combat misinformation, he said.
“As an Academy, our policies begin and end with the resolute dependence on science, and that is our shield. We have been besieged by the deliberate undermining of that science by politics based in fear and intolerance and the impact of politicians trying to insert themselves between us and our patients. Let me be clear, there is absolutely no place in the exam room or at the bedside for politics or for politicians,”
Instead, AAP work should inform government policy. He noted the 2023 policy Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program: Optimization to Promote Equity in Child and Young Adult Health as an example that has grabbed the attention of policymakers at the national and state levels. Payment transformation is essential to combating many of the obstacles.
“There is kryptonite in the way we finance child health. We have accepted that kids’ health is worth less than the health of their parents and grandparents,” Dr. Hoffman said. “Medicaid is the single largest payer for child health in the United States, and by definition, all of those kids are poor. By demographics, those kids are also disproportionately Black and brown. Disparity in payment for Medicaid for kids fundamentally perpetuates inequity … and to the extent that inequity involves race, these policies perpetuate racism.”
The Academy’s Equity Agenda also advances its commitment to dismantling the structures that lead to inequity and oppression of marginalized and minoritized communities, he said.
Drawing on the superhero theme, Dr. Hoffman said his experience growing up in a multiracial family gave him a close-up view of the impact of disparities, structural racism and oppression.
He urged pediatricians to look at their own origin stories. “What called you to pediatrics, what molded your passions? What are your powers, and how can you wield them, which remain unrecognized, untapped or unused?”
This will help define how a clinician can fight threats and advocate for the health and well-being of children, families and the communities they serve.
”Each of us has unique powers and abilities that we routinely employ as we work to fulfill our missions,” he said.
This work, however, is not an individual fight, and superheroes don’t act alone.
“We are stronger together than we are alone,” he said.
