USA: Buttigieg discusses anti-racist healthcare plan at South Carolina panel ahead of primary

M/S Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg arriving for panel discussion in Greenville, South Carolina
SOT, Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate: "It also means creating and investing in what we're calling 'health equity zones'. Again, this is an example of where that will be defined and decided by local partnerships, local government, non-profits, community leaders, but, should have federal funding to help design a strategy and then make sure that strategy can develop, with support from the Department of Health and Human Services. I believe that we can act to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030, that we can tackle the diabetes epidemic that has been heading in the wrong direction, in many ways, in many communities, and that we can end this crisis of maternal mortality in a country that is lagging behind almost all developed nations."
M/S Media at panel *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate: "We also need to make sure that we are investing in the profession. Part of what's driving, we know, the issues around health equity, things like the maternal mortality gap, is that there's often a lack of cultural competency and there is bias, explicit and implicit, in the system. And that means training our health workforce to be anti-racist."
C/U Panel moderator *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate: "I think that we need to do a better job of supporting and funding at the federal level. So part of what we've proposed in the context of the Frederick Douglass plan is to dismantle the effects of systemic inequality in the country."
C/U Panellist *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate: "Medicaid exclusion, for those who are incarcerated, especially for those dealing with substance abuse or mental health challenges, which is, of course, a huge proportion of those who are incarcerated. That makes it that much harder to get continuity of care. When we are talking about housing, housing is inseparable from concerns of health."
M/S Media at panel *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Panel moderator: "There was a six month waiting list to see a psychiatrist. That's insane. And that kind of change, even though it's on a state level doesn't happen unless there are policies and legislation."
SOT, Pete Buttigieg, Democratic presidential candidate: "I mean that's where we've got to look to the federal government to set a floor. What you're describing I think would be characterised, in the international environment, as a human rights violation, right? And when we're talking about the state assuming responsibility for somebody while incarcerated, there is a responsibility to make sure something like that can't happen. Let alone making sure when we have returning citizens, that we are lifting them up and making it possible for them to integrate and contribute, as they would seek to do."
M/S Panel attendees
SCRIPT
Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg discussed his anti-racist healthcare plan with a panel of experts in Greenville, South Carolina on Thursday, ahead of the state's upcoming Democratic presidential primary which is set to take place on Saturday.
"There's often a lack of cultural competency and there is bias, explicit and implicit, in the system. And that means training our health workforce to be anti-racist," said Buttigieg.
Taking questions from members of the local black community, he discussed combating decades of racial healthcare inequality.
"I think that we need to do a better job of supporting and funding at the federal level. So part of what we've proposed in the context of the Frederick Douglass plan, is to dismantle the effects of systemic inequality in the country."
For Buttigieg, just like his opponents in South Carolina, Saturday's primary is a huge test of popularity among black voters as the primaries conducted so far were in states with a relatively small black community.
According to opinion polling former vice president Joe Biden is in the lead in South Carolina with around 35 percent of voters intending to support him, with frontrunner Bernie Sanders at around 19 percent, Buttigieg meanwhile is polling at only 8 percent.