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| Barbers and clients learn about health disparities and the risks associated with Prostate Cancer through the B.A.P Caps initiative. |
April
is designated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (U.S.
DHHS) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as National
Minority Health Month, a month dedicated to heightened awareness of differences
in health status that exist in the U.S. These differences, known as
'disparities,' have deep roots and have been a topic of focused concern for the
nation's top health officials, researchers and advocates since Dr. David
Satcher helped make it a part of his Surgeon General platform under the Bill
Clinton Administration. Nearly twenty-five years later, we have not
closed the gaps in health status that were originally identified. Efforts continue under
the Healthy People 2020 goals.
Black
men die at nearly two times the rate of white men from prostate cancer.
Latinos/Hispanics and Native Americans have higher rates of obesity and diabetes,
and die two to three times more often from both than their white counterparts. No one should die from diabetes. Women
of color get and die from breast cancer up to four times more often than their
white counterparts. More Black men and women contract and die from
HIV/AIDS than others. Black men smoke at the highest rate of all smokers
of color, mainly due to the constant targeting of mentholated tobacco products
in Black and poor neighborhoods. What is commonly understood is that the
segment of the U.S. population with the poorest overall health is Black men. A
few years ago a major study revealed that the best place for Black men to get
comprehensive health care was in prison. Is this the kind of health care
that the "best country in the world" is supposed to provide for its
residents? I think not.
Causes
of health disparities are historic and varied, with some engrained in the very
system that is designed to eliminate them. I developed a formula some
years ago that helps explain how we got to this state of poor health. My
formula states that if we add "poor health practices" (we do not
do what we are supposed to do, even when we know what we should be doing, as
individuals, to ensure good health) to "a lack of licensed health
providers" (we are not producing a sufficient number of health
professionals to meet the needs of the U.S. population, thus underserved areas
exist in nearly every state), to "a disparate health care system" (a
health care system that treats people differently because of their
color, their gender, their economic and/or insurance status), then we can't help
but have "poor health outcomes", because this system is designed to
give you exactly that.
What
needs to be done is a) do everything to ensure you have optimum
personal health; b) encourage young people of color to study to become health
professionals, particularly in the area of public health; and c) speak out loudly when you
access any part of the health care system and you are treated differently,
or witness someone else being treated differently, because of their color,
gender, how much money they make, or insurance status. All of these will
help to change the current system into one that acknowledges every person as a
unique individual with value and worth that is no different than those
currently providing the care.
For additional information visit the
following webisites:
Office of Minority Health
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services - National Minority Health Month Activities/Events (www.hhs.gov)
Center for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) - National Minority Health Month Activities
Black Men's Health Initiative
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