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Last Reviewed:
June 5, 2007 |
Healthy People 2010, the Nation's prevention agenda, is designed to achieve two overarching goals: 1) Increase quality and years of healthy life; 2) Eliminate health disparities. The second goal of Healthy People 2010, to eliminate health disparities, includes differences that occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education or income, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation. Compelling evidence indicate that race and ethnicity correlate with persistent, and often increasing, health disparities among U.S. populations in all these categories and demands national attention. Because racial and ethnic minority groups are expected to comprise an increasingly larger proportion of the U.S. population in coming years, the future health of America will be greatly influenced by our success in improving the health of these groups. Despite great improvements in the overall health of the nation, Americans who are members of racial and ethnic minority groups, including blacks or African Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, and Other Pacific Islanders, are more likely than whites to have poor health and to die prematurely. These disparities are believed to be the results of the complex interaction among genetic variations, environmental factors, and specific health behaviors. Culturally appropriate, community-driven programs are critical for eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health. For these programs to be effective, prevention research is needed to identify the causes of health disparities and the best means of delivering preventive and clinical services. Establishing these programs will also require new and innovative partnerships among federal, state, local, and tribal governments and communities. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has selected six focus areas in which racial and ethnic minorities experience serious disparities in health access and outcomes:
These six health areas were selected for emphasis because they reflect areas of disparity that are known to affect multiple racial and ethnic minority groups at all life stages. The representative near-term goals within these six areas are drawn from Healthy People 2000, the Nation's prevention agenda: targets for reducing disparities have been developed in consultation with representatives from target communities and experts in public health. Reliable national data is also available to track our progress on these near-term goals in a timely fashion. The leadership and resource of the Department will be committed to achieving significant reductions in these disparities by the year 2010. These disparities occur for a variety of reasons, including unequal access to health care, discriminations, and language and cultural barriers. In addition, the following diseases and conditions disproportionately impact racial and ethnic minorities:
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