Press release from MAHEC:
Asheville, N.C. – Sept. 13, 2024): Everyone should have the opportunity for health and well-being. But not everyone does. Opportunity is impacted by where we live, work, learn and play, and by circumstances in our families, communities and neighborhoods—especially our economic circumstances.
While it is well established that poverty is bad for one’s health, it is not typically talked about as a leading cause of death, like smoking, obesity, and drug overdoses are. But in 2019, chronic poverty—that is, living with poverty for 10 years or more—was associated with 295,431 deaths, ranking as the 4th leading cause of death in the U.S., behind heart disease, cancer and smoking. A single year of poverty was associated with 183,003 deaths, ranking as the 7thleading cause of death in the country.
Improving opportunities for health means addressing poverty head-on as a public health issue. This is what the inaugural Health is Wealth Summit intends to accomplish. Taking place on Oct. 5 at MAHEC, the daylong event is a collaboration among Asheville Buncombe Institute for Parity Achievement (ABIPA), Impact Health, Institute for Preventive Healthcare and Advocacy (IFPHA), Just Economics, Operation Gateway, Pisgah Legal Services, Thrive Asheville, the WNC Health Policy Initiative, and MAHEC.The Summit will bring together a broad audience of medical providers, community-based organizations, and human service organizations to learn and commit to act together to address poverty in the name of improving health and well-being for all. Community members can join for the entire day or just for the free Health and Advocacy Fair, 1 to 3 p.m.With a light breakfast beginning at 8:30 a.m., the Summit will kick off at 9:30 a.m. with a plenary address by Somava Saha, MD, MS, helping set the stage for how poverty shapes health and wellness and the real potential to address it together. Dr. Saha has dedicated her career to improving health, well-being and equity through the development of thriving people, organizations and communities. Among the ways she has accomplished that is through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 100 Million Healthier Lives (100MLives) initiative, which she founded and led, bringing together more than 1,850 partners in over 30 countries reaching more than 500 million people.The morning will also include a panel of local leaders discussing factors driving poverty and bright spots and opportunities to mitigate it here in Western North Carolina. Tabletop discussions for service providers that engage participants in moving towards action will follow.
The Summit will host a Health and Advocacy Fair in the afternoon, where attendees can connect with health and social resources and learn about opportunities to impact policy. Twenty-five vendors will be onsite to engage community members in direct services that can improve their health and provide opportunities to advocate for anti-poverty measures, such as Living Wage Certification for employers, expanded Medicaid enrollment, and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
The day will close at 4 p.m. following a call to action inspired by the poetry of Dove Dupree, a poet, musical artist, actor, and youth advocate whose goal is to impact and inspire.Register for the full-day Summit here: https://ow.ly/CK3J50Tn7l6 or just for the Health & Advocacy Fair here: https://ow.ly/cbCv50Tn7lh.
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