ATHENS, Ga.–

Over 350 people attended the 5th annual State of Public Health Conference today, Tuesday, October 18th. A conference where the issue of politics and healthcare collide.  According to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, Georgia has the third highest number of poor uninsured, noneldery adults in the United States.  47% percent of those are people of color.

Event planner and associate Dean for Outreach and Engagement, College of Public Health, at the University of Georgia, Marsha Davis says wether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, this impacts everyone.

She says, “The issue of equality and equity where everyone has access to healthcare and it doesn’t matter who you are but you have a right to healthcare that is a bipartisan issue.”

Davis says this issue often gets overlooked because of it’s sensitivity. But at the State of Public Health conference they focused on solutions to bridge this gap. A solution that begins with a conversation.

Davis says it is important because “people can come together with a real vision of what real issues are in their community things that are perhaps hard to talk about like racial equality, racial biasy, income, poverty those are very hard topics to talk about but must be if we are to find solutions for public health in Georgia.”