hi all,
we are getting closer to addressing the social determinants of health in the us..
i am only sorry that white folks continue to be seen en masse as middle class- they arent. and place matters in health of all who live in unhealthy places..
our aversion to thinking about class is simply astounding.
ken thompson
pittsburgh
________________________________
From: Social Determinants of Health on behalf of Dennis Raphael
Sent: Tue 9/27/2005 6:22 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [SDOH] USA: New Initiative Aims to Curtail Health Disparities by Addressing Root Causes of Health Problems
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=54131
To: Opinion Editor
Contact: Michael K. Frisby, 202-625-4328
WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is an op-ed by Dr. Gail
Christopher:
New Initiative Aims to Curtail Health Disparities by Addressing Root Causes
of Health Problems
By Dr. Gail Christopher
The Joint Center Health Policy Institute (HPI) has launched a new
Initiative, Place Matters: Addressing the Root Causes of Health
Disparities, a targeted benchmarking and accountability system that will
document progress and accelerate efforts to eliminate health disparities in
places where it is needed most.
For too long, Native Americans, Hispanics and African Americans have died
needlessly because of poor nutrition, lack of health services and other
social conditions and habits that have contributed to minorities suffering
disproportionately from a number of diseases ranging from cancer to high
blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
Our initiative will reduce health disparities by addressing the complex
underlying causes of health disparities and disseminating strategies to
help ameliorate these root causes. Researchers have determined that
altering social determinants impacting individual wellbeing can modify
health patterns, illness and health disparities. But any systematic and
researched-based translation of this knowledge into policy and practice has
been limited, particularly at the local level.
Until now.
The Place Matters initiative changes that trend. Simply put, we believe
that by addressing the underlying causes of health disparities, we can make
people healthier.
Already, the initiative has reached out to partner with the National
Association of Counties, International City/County Management Association,
and National Association of County and City Health Officials. Working with
state and local public officials, administrators and community leaders, we
use data from the 100 counties across the country with the highest
concentration of minorities to prompt new policies and programs aimed at
reducing disparities. More importantly, we will benchmark our progress,
keeping records of what projects have the best results so we can repeat
their success in other communities.
Clearly, our initiative has been launched at a time when America needs it.
Our nation has just witnessed the type of human suffering, and race and
class divisions that Americans had long forgotten, or thought only existed
today on some other shores. In the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and
Rita, we saw what it is like to be poor and forgotten in America. Thousands
of Black men, women and children were herded into the New Orleans
Superdome, a chaotic shelter without enough food and water. Elderly
patients were deserted and left to die in a nursing home. The travesties
went on and on.
These same people have been preyed up for years in less explicit ways.
After the killer hurricanes, their pain and suffering was transparent. But
for decades their families, neighbors and colleagues have been the victims
in the statistics that show:
-- African American men have the highest overall rate for cancer deaths.
They are one and a half times more likely to get the disease - and twice as
likely to die from it as Whites.
-- The rate of high blood pressure among African Americans in the United
States is the highest in the world. Studies by the Center for Disease
Control and Prevention have found that 36.4 percent of Black men ages 20
and older have high blood pressure, compared to 25.6 percent of White men.
-- An estimated 2.3 million African Americans have diabetes, with Black men
twice as likely to have diabetes as Whites of the same age. Mortality rates
for African Americans with diabetes are 27 percent higher than Whites with
the disease. -- The mortality rate for African American men ages 35 to 44
with coronary heart disease is 82.6 percent, compared to 38.8 percent for
Whites of the same age.
Our goal is for the PLACE MATTERS initiative to turn the tide. We want this
project to symbolize that the public and private sectors can work together
and save lives. When we launched the initiative in September, Sen. John
Kerry (D-Ma.) attended the announcement and talked frankly about America's
healthcare services for the poor. "The truth,'' he said, "is that, as a
result of Katrina, many children went to shelters where they got
vaccinations for the first time. Thousands of adults are seeing a doctor
for the first time in years. Illnesses lingering long before Katrina will
be treated by a health care system that just weeks ago was indifferent. We
have to act now to be sure it won't soon be indifferent again. We must
demand something simple and humane: health care for every American -- not
just when a disaster strikes, but every day of the year."
What's clear is that barriers, such as concentrated poverty, unemployment
and inadequate educational, housing and transportation resources contribute
to health disparities for minorities and low-income residents across the
country. These conditions must be addressed, if real progress on health
disparities is to be made.
Place Matters is a new beginning. It can demonstrate to the world that
America can overcome race and class divisions, and that the victims of
Katrina did not die in vain - they sparked a new commitment to saving lives
and building healthy communities.
(Dr. Gail Christopher is vice president for Health, Women and Families at
the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, and director of the
Joint Center Health Policy Institute.)
http://www.usnewswire.com/
-0-
/© 2005 U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
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© 2005 U.S. Newswire
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