Editor’s note: The 2024 AAP National Conference & Exhibition is taking place from Sept. 27-Oct. 1 in Orlando, Fla. For more coverage, visit https://bit.ly/AAPNationalConference2024 and follow @AAPNews on LinkedIn, Facebook and X.
One of the nation’s top health officials announced on Sunday new resources to combat food insecurity and reaffirmed her commitment to improving adolescent health, combating climate change and promoting equity.
Adm. Rachel L. Levine, M.D., FAAP, assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, addressed fellow pediatricians as a keynote speaker at the 2024 AAP National Conference & Exhibition. She praised their compassion and encouraged them to continue to fight against discrimination and inequality.
“Our collective efforts help pave a path for next the generation,” she said. “We are stronger together, and we are building an equitable future together for our nation’s children.”
About 6.5 million U.S. households with children face food insecurity. Dr. Levine described visiting towns where there isn’t a grocery store for 15 miles and the only nearby food options are corner stores predominantly selling chips, soda and beer instead of fresh fruits and vegetables.
On Monday, HHS is launching new Food is Medicine resources at health.gov/foodismedicine to help address these challenges.
“Access to nutritious food is critical to health and resilience,” Dr. Levine said. “Food is obviously an essential component to a person and a community’s ability to thrive. But we have much work to do to ensure that our nation’s children have access to healthy, nutritious foods.”
Dr. Levine’s talk came just days after Hurricane Helene pummeled Florida and other southern states. She called climate change “our biggest existential threat” said climate change and health are “two sides of the same coin.” People across the country are facing the consequences in the form of severe weather, forest fires, rising sea levels and increasing vector-borne diseases.
“Collaborative efforts to acknowledge and address climate impacts are going to have to be part of our professional lives,” Dr. Levine said. “… Every dollar invested in prevention, preparation and resilience is a vital step toward a healthier future for all of us.”
Dr. Levine also addressed the many challenges facing adolescents, including the mental health crisis, access to reproductive health services and rising rates of chronic conditions like obesity and diabetes. She touted HHS’s Take Action for Adolescents program to prioritize the physical, mental and social well-being of this age group and called for more training for health care providers caring for these youths.
Dr. Levine lamented laws and policies that force adolescents to travel to other states to get the reproductive and gender-affirming health care they need.
“We now need to include the legal and political structure of the state that you live in as itself a social determinant of health,” she said.
One protestor briefly interrupted her early in the speech. At the conclusion of her presentation, Dr. Levine emphasizes the need to keep health care separate from politics.
“Despite the criticisms that I face … personally I have no room in my heart for hatred or discrimination,” she said. “Frankly, I have no time for intolerance. We need to continue to work until everyone living in America can live with equal rights to health, and equitable access to services they need without political interference.”
