NBCI and the ACHDC Endorse National Academies Report on Improving Clinical Trials Representation

The Nat'l Black Church Initiative and American Clinical Trials Disparities Commission Strongly Urge the FDA to Use It as a blueprint.

WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, September 30, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a coalition of 150,000 African African American churches and 27.7 million members, as well as the American Clinical Health Disparities Commission ( ACHDC), endorse the National Academies Report on Improving Representation in Clinical Trials and Research and urge the FDA to use it as a blueprint.

In the report "Improving Representation in Clinical Trials and Research: Building Research Equity for Women and Underrepresented Groups" (2022), the National Academies recommends some easily understood and sensible ways to achieve diversity in clinical trials for women and African Americans. We need accountability built into any rules from the FDA.

The Rev. Anthony Evans, president of the National Black Church Initiative, says, “According to the Washington Post article titled, "Black Communities Endured a Wave of Excess Deaths in the Past 2 Decades", African Americans are dying at extraordinary rates, and we must find out the reasons WHY.” Former President of the Florida Medical Association (FMA) and current Clinical Director, NBCI American Clinical Health Disparity Commission (ACHDC) Dr. Joseph Webster, MD, MBA, FACP states, "We need to find out whether or not new medicines work on the physiologies of African Americans and Latinos. This is why we must increase our participation in Clinical Trials!"

The report states that both NBCI and ACHDC agree that the scientific necessity to improve research equity is urgent. The United States is becoming more diverse, with the 2020 U.S. Census finding that the number of people who identify as White has decreased for the first time since the U.S. Census started being taken in 1790. Deep health disparities are persistent, pervasive, and costly despite greater diversity.

Without major advancements in the inclusion of underrepresented and excluded populations in health research, meaningful reductions in inequalities in chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s remain unlikely. Purposeful and deliberate change is needed. As the United States becomes more diverse every day, failing to reach these growing communities will only prove more costly over time.

ABOUT NBCI
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) is a coalition of 150,000 African American and Latino churches working to eradicate racial disparities in healthcare, technology, education, housing, and the environment. The mission of NBCI is to provide critical wellness information to all of its members, congregants, churches, and the public. NBCI, utilizing faith and sound health science and partners with major organizations and officials, reduces racial disparities in the variety of areas cited above. NBCI's programs are governed by credible statistical analysis, science-based strategies and techniques, and methods that work and offer faith-based, out-of-the-box, and cutting-edge solutions to stubborn economic and social issues.

Anthony Evans
National Black Church Initiative
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