- Collection:
- Georgia Government Publications
- Title:
- Georgia health e-update, Apr. 2010
- Creator:
- Georgia. Department of Community Health
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, GA : Dept. of Community Health, 2010
- Date of Original:
- 2010-04
- Subject:
- Health services administration--Georgia
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
- Medium:
- state government records
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- External Identifiers:
- Call Number GA C900 .P1 H4 2010/4
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bc900-b-pp1-bh4-b2010-s4-belec-p-btext
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bc900-b-pp1-bh4-b2010-s4-belec-p-btext
- Language:
- eng
- Holding Institution:
- University of Georgia. Map and Government Information Library
- Rights:
-
April 2010 Newsletter
April is Minority Health Month
Health disparities are the persistent gaps between the health status of minorities and non-minorities in the United States. Despite continued advances in health care and technology, racial and ethnic minorities continue to have higher rates of disease, disability and premature death than non-minorities.
No matter where you live, work, or play, you can get involved and become a solution to the problem by educating yourself and your community about health disparities and their affects on the population as a whole.
To hear more about health disparities among Georgia's minorities and how you can help reduce them, listen to the April edition of the Georgia Wellcast and learn about Minority Health Month. Click on the Wellcast icon to the right.
Health Disparities Among Minority Populations: What Can You Do?
Good health is an invaluable asset that should be treasured. However, access to high quality health care continues to be a major problem facing Georgia's minority communities.
Health Disparities Affecting Minorities When you look at the statistics, they are startling. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC):
African-American babies are 2.5 times as likely to die in their first year of life, Native
American babies are two times as likely and Hispanic babies are 2.3 times as likely to die
within the first year as white babies.
Among adults, when compared with non-Hispanic whites, diagnosed diabetes rates are
about 60 percent higher in African Americans; 110 percent to 120 percent higher in
Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans; and Native Americans have the highest rates of
diabetes in the world.
The death rate due to stroke and cardiovascular disease is 40.2 times higher for
African Americans than whites. For Native Americans, the death rate is 14.7 times higher
than for the total U.S. population.
The Problem Some of the causes of health disparities include limited access to quality preventive health care due to poverty, workforce shortages, and cultural and linguistic barriers. Without access to health care, minority patients are at a greater risk of poor health outcomes than non-minority patients.
Working Towards a Solution The Georgia Department of Health (DCH) is dedicated to eliminating health disparities in Georgia by fulfilling its mission to provide:
Access to affordable, quality health care in our communities
Responsible health planning and use of health care resources; and encourage
Healthy behaviors and improved health outcomes
To learn more about heart health, log onto georgiahealthinfo.gov and click on the Healthy Living tab.