News

January 14, 2019—Following thorough conversations about STFM’s role in health equity, the Board of Directors has approved the following policy statement against discrimination:

“STFM opposes all discrimination in any form, including but not limited to, that on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic affiliation, health, age, disability, economic status, body habitus or national origin.”

We believe STFM and its members benefit from having a strong statement against all discrimination. This policy was developed following more than a year of discussions focusing on how STFM should address health equity issues, including agreement on how we would define health equity, develop goals for STFM involvement, create a 2019 Health Equity Awareness Campaign, and dedicate the January 2019 issue of Family Medicine to racism.

Recently, a member requested us to endorse a published paper on racism. We decided to mention this paper in the three presidents’ column in the dedicated issue on racism. This also sparked a conversation on creating a policy statement that spoke to broader issues of discrimination beyond race. We looked at the AAFP policy on discrimination for inspiration and crafted our own policy, which was approved at the recent board meeting.