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Morehouse School of Medicine chosen to spearhead $40 million initiative to combat COVID-19 in minority communities

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the program on Tuesday.

ATLANTA — The Morehouse School of Medicine has been chosen to administer a $40 million government initiative to combat COVID-19 in minority communities, the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Tuesday.

Data has shown Black and Brown communities have been hit disproportionately hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

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The HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) said Morehouse School of Medicine would spearhead the National Infrastructure for Mitigating the Impact of COVID-19 within Racial and Ethnic Minority Communities (NIMIC) program to "work with community-based organizations across the nation to deliver education and information on resources to help fight the pandemic."

"The Morehouse School of Medicine will enter into a cooperative agreement with OMH to lead the initiative to coordinate a strategic network of national, state, territorial, tribal and local organizations to deliver COVID-19-related information to communities hardest hit by the pandemic," a release said.

The program is designed to span three years. According to HHS, the program is slated to begin its work in July, with an initial funding of $14.6 million.

“We know the power of partnerships to help us solve our most pressing public health challenges,” said U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams. “This initiative has at its core the community-based organizations who know their people best and who are committed to working collaboratively to reduce health-inequities and make them healthy and safe.”

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