The For Your Health News Podcast explores the issues shaping health and healthcare in communities across the United States. Through conversations with experts, advocates, researchers, policymakers, and community leaders, the podcast breaks down complex health topics, examines barriers to health access, and shares evidence-based insights and solutions that put people first.
In this episode of the For Your Health News Podcast, Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet, AVP of Health Equity at Merck at the time of the conversation, discusses disparities in healthcare and efforts to improve access and outcomes for communities facing barriers to care.
The conversation focuses on Black maternal health and the importance of ensuring that patients receive equitable access to healthcare, information, and support.
Dr. Etiebet discusses efforts to address disparities in maternal health, including the Hear Her Campaign, and explains why listening closely to patients is an essential part of improving maternal health experiences and outcomes.
The episode highlights the importance of patient voices, access to care, and community-focused initiatives in addressing disparities affecting Black mothers and families.
In This Episode, You’ll Learn: • Why equitable access to healthcare matters • What disparities affect Black maternal health • How initiatives can help address gaps in maternal healthcare • What the Hear Her Campaign focuses on • Why listening to patients is essential to improving care • How healthcare organizations can support better health access and outcomes
Learn more about Merck and its work in health and science: merck.com
Learn more about the National Minority Quality Forum: nmqf.org
Read more health news: fyh.news
Learn more about NMQF’s Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative: shiftcancer.org
SPEAKER_00
Welcome to For Your Health News Podcast. Excited to have you all here. We have the first in the building, first AVP of Health Equity at Merck, Miss Mariette Etterman. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. And we are at the Cancer Care Summit, and we have had a great time talking about why it's important to increase quality health care in underserved communities. And I would love to learn more about why it was important for Merck to be represented in this conversation today.
SPEAKER_01
Well, thank you so much, Queen Star, for inviting me. You know, I think just to specifically ask your question, answer your question, you know, we felt that it's important to be part of this conversation because it's part of our mission, you know, to save and improve lives across the world. And we are so excited when we're able to bring the power of our innovations and science to save and improve lives. One of the things we ask ourselves in the company, and we've been asking this, you know, for decades, is how many people are we helping and how much are we helping them? But one of the things that teams across the company are asking now is who are we helping?
SPEAKER_00
Important question.
SPEAKER_01
Very important question. Because if we don't ask that question, we're reinforcing the inequities that exist in the societies that we're working in. And that should not be the case because there's so much we can do to actually dismantle, you know, some of those inequities and to think through how do we reach people that have not historically been reached? How do we reach people that have remained underserved? And so to be able to share with the broader community some of the lessons that we've learned, you know, through decades of partnerships, some of the insights, some of the things that work, and also things that don't work. And to share as well what we're hearing from the communities that we're working with. Because at the end of the day, this is about how do we serve them, and it's about what they want us to do. So I'm just really excited to be here and sharing something.
SPEAKER_00
No, and I think it's very important to ask those questions because I think historically folks have maybe if you did not look like those types of communities, you wouldn't think to ask that question. Are they part of this discussion? Are they represented in what we're creating here? And what I loved when reading your bio, because I like to do some research, especially if it's gonna be an African woman powerhouse conversation. You gotta do your research. Your work is specifically focused on maternal health, which really affects the black community and minority communities, underserved communities. Tell us a little bit about that work and why it's important to you.
SPEAKER_01
I'd love to, and you know, and just to take a step back, uh, you know, I was so excited, you know, to be able to join Merck, which is also known as MSD outside the US and Canada, um, to help lead their Merck from Mothers program, uh, which was created back in 2011. Um, we know now, and that's because of the investment in research, that black women in the US are two to three times more likely to die from preventable complications during pregnancy and social media.
SPEAKER_00
And it's a developed nation. Like, let's be very real.
SPEAKER_01
One of the, if not the richest nations.
SPEAKER_00
This is an abomination. It should not be happening.
SPEAKER_01
The other thing that's happening is that that number has actually gotten worse, not better, yeah, in the last 25 years. Um, you know, you you talked about us being African women, yeah. And the fact that on the continent, um, the rates, you know, of maternal death are atrocious. Yeah. Um, I think in in some countries, you as a woman, as a girl growing up, you have a one in 50, you know, one in 50 chance of actually dying during childbirth. Um but it in our family, you know, that's immigrated into this country, my sister-in-law about 28 years ago, um, unfortunately uh died, you know, during childbirth. She walked into a hospital and didn't walk out. And her daughter today has a higher chance of dying during childbirth than her own mother. And so when when you think about that dynamic, intergenerational, it's it's it's it's something that we need to reverse the trend. You know, it's we we we have to do more here. And you know, I'm glad you brought it up because it brings up the issue of wherever we're working in the health space, there's so many different connections to make. Um, when we are partnering through the Merc for Mothers initiative, you know, to improve maternal health, we should not be abandoning women after they've given birth. How do we now set them up to thrive across a lifetime? And issues like cancer prevention, how do we share that information, you know, with women? How do we think about cancer prevention? You know, there are vaccines that can help prevent uh, you know, cancers that that are are killing people around the world. Um, and so the other thing that's also exciting about that work is again, how do we learn from it and and apply those learnings into other areas of health? So just excited to share all of that.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, and how are you spreading that information to women? Talk about some of the initiatives that your team is working on.
SPEAKER_01
So, a number, you know, here in the US, uh we're actually really excited about a partnership we have with the CDC and the CDC Foundation. It's called the Hear Her Campaign. Um, and it is specifically in response to stories that we heard where black women specifically were not being listened to when they shared their signs or symptoms of complications or their worries during the process. Um and so we we created, or CDC, CDC Foundation created a campaign where it's about lifting and elevating and amplifying voices of women and them sharing their experiences. And what we found is that almost gives permission, you know, for other people to also share their experiences. But the really important thing about that campaign is that while we need to increase awareness of these stories, the burden really needs to be on the healthcare system and the healthcare provider to respond and to respond appropriately, to respond in a timely manner, uh, to make sure that they're addressing you know those um uh those issues and and saving lives.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, that's so important. I just thought about a friend who passed away in 2019 in child in childbirth, and it's because they she wasn't listened to.
SPEAKER_01
It's as simple as that. And and that not listening is because people don't value black women. Yeah, uh, because if you value the life sitting in front of you and you're an active partner and you think of your patient as an active and equal partner in your health care, you're gonna listen to her.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00
It's real. And I think it's important to recognize that this issue is not just concentrated in black neighborhoods. It's we we are seeing the data specifically for black women, but there are women across the world that are not being heard when it comes to maternal care. So it's so I'm so thankful that Merck is taking this challenge on and thankful that you're leading the helm to make it.
SPEAKER_01
I'm actually I'm no longer leading the initiative, but I will definitely let the team know. Um, because they they are just doing such amazing work and and such amazing work to spread uh again, you know, all of those partnerships that are happening.
SPEAKER_00
Yeah, awesome. Well, thank you so much for making the time. Uh I know New York is your home base. So enjoy Brooklyn for all of us who can't be in Brooklyn every single day. And thank you for your work at Mirka. Thank you so much. Thank you.
