Washington, July 22 (TIWN) Erin Mendenhall, Mayor of Salt Lake City in the US state of Utah, has declared racism a public health crisis.

"This is an important declaration for us to make as a City," Mendenhall said in a statement released on Wednesday.  "Not only are we publicly acknowledging the existence of a grave inequity that many in our community have known and experienced for so long, we are also committing ourselves to the creation of policies and ordinances that are anti-racist," Mendenhall said.  The declaration came a day after Mendenhall adopted a joint resolution with the city council on Tuesday night, reports Xinhua news agency.