Oprah, Smithsonian Channel to explore health care inequities

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oprah Winfrey and the Smithsonian Channel are partnering to highlight racial disparities in the health care system through a new campaign and documentary.

The network revealed on Thursday the Color of Care campaign to create a solution toward health equity. The campaign will follow the premiere of Winfrey’s “The Color of Care” documentary, which airs May 1.

Through Harpo Productions, Winfrey will executive produce the documentary that chronicles how people of color suffer from systematically substandard health care in the United States, with the COVID-19 pandemic being a catalyst to shed light on the issue.

The documentary will coincide with the campaign, which expects to take a broader look at the topic. The yearlong campaign will feature multiple activations in the coming months, including a digital series. It will bring together impacted communities, medical and nursing schools, health care workers and policymakers in hopes of finding a solution to inequities.

“The COVID crisis has exposed gross inequalities in our healthcare system which, if left unaddressed, will again disproportionately impact people of color during the next health emergency,” said James Blue III, the head of the Smithsonian Channel. “This campaign will work to address these inequalities.”