Pennsylvania Minorities Receive ‘Inferior’ Health Care, Report Finds
Although the health of Pennsylvanians as a group has improved over the last few years, minorities still lag behind their white counterparts in several health indicators, according to statistics the state Department of Health released April 25, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The statistics are part of the department's "Special Report on the Health Status of Minorities in Pennsylvania," which examined racial disparities in six categories: communicable disease, chronic disease, family health, violence and injury, environmental health and service-delivery systems. The report's findings, which "mirror" national statistics, include:
- Black infants are three times more likely to die than white infants and twice as likely to die as Hispanic infants;
- Blacks ages 35 through 64 who have asthma are six times more likely to die than whites;
- Blacks with diabetes are almost four times more likely to have end-stage kidney disease than whites with diabetes; and
- Latino and Asian women are less likely than white women to receive breast and cervical cancer screenings (Wiggins, Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/26).
Explaining the Differences
The report concluded that the disparities resulted in part from differences in diet, exercise and smoking habits, as well as differences in the use of tests to detect cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes and various cancers (Snowbeck,
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/26). In conjunction with the report's release, the state said it plans to give six community agencies $250,000 each to fund awareness programs on diabetes, hypertension and immunization (Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/26).
