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Last Modified: June 6, 2007 |
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Life expectancy and overall health have improved in recent years for most Americans, thanks in part to an increased focus on preventive medicine and dynamic new advances in medical technology. However, not all Americans are benefiting equally. For too many racial and ethnic minorities in the United States, good health is elusive, since appropriate care is often associated with an individual's economic status, race, and gender. While Americans as a group are healthier and living longer, the nation's health status will never be as good as it can be as long as there are segments of the population with poor health status. Compelling evidence that race and ethnicity correlate with persistent, and often increasing, health disparities among U.S. populations demands national attention. Indeed, despite notable progress in the overall health of the Nation, there are continuing disparities in the burden of illness and death experienced by blacks or African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, American Indians and Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders, compared to the U.S. population as a whole. The demographic changes anticipated over the next decade magnify the importance of addressing disparities in health status. Groups currently experiencing poorer health status are expected to grow as a proportion of the total U.S. population; therefore, the future health of America as a whole will be influenced substantially by improving the health of these racial and ethnic minorities. A national focus on disparities in health status is particularly important as major changes unfold in the way in which health care is delivered and financed. Current information about the biologic and genetic characteristics of minority populations does not explain the health disparities experienced by these groups compared with the white, non-Hispanic population in the United States. These disparities are believed to be the result of the complex interaction among genetic variations, environmental factors, and specific health behaviors.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (HHS) created the Office of Minority Health in 1985 as a result of the Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health which revealed large and persistent gaps in health status among Americans of different racial and ethnic groups. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created its own Office of Minority Health (OMH) in 1988 in response to the same report. Congress passed the “Disadvantaged Minority Health Act of 1990” in order to improve the health status of underserved populations, including racial and ethnic minorities. Healthy
People 2010 The second goal of Healthy People 2010 is to eliminate health disparities among different segments of the population 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. Healthy People is firmly dedicated to the principle that regardless of differences among populations every person in every community across the Nation deserves equal access to comprehensive, culturally competent, community-based health care systems that are committed to serving the needs of the individual and promoting community health. Healthy People 2010 identifies 10 Leading Health Indicators (LHIs) that are major public health concerns in the United States. They represent opportunities for individuals and communities to take action to realize significant health improvements and prevent future health concerns. The LHIs were chosen because they are "determinants of health." As determinants of health, the LHIs are critical influences that precede a wide variety of health problems. They also may affect the course of existing disease. The LHIs were chosen based on their ability to motivate action, the availability of data to measure their progress, and their relevance as broad public health issues. The LHIs are intended to help everyone more easily understand the importance of health promotion and disease prevention and to encourage wide participation in improving health in the next decade. Developing strategies and action plans to address one or more of these indicators can have a profound effect on increasing the quality of life and the years of healthy life and on eliminating health disparities -- creating healthy people in healthy communities. Healthy People 2010 Leading Health Indicators
REACH 2010
Leading Causes of
Death The leading causes of death are frequently used to describe the health status of the Nation. The Nation has seen a great deal of change over the past 100 years in the leading causes of death. At the beginning of the 1900s, infectious disease ran rampant in the United States and worldwide and topped the leading causes of death. A century later, with the control of many infectious agents and the increasing age of the population, chronic diseases top the list. A very different picture emerges when the leading causes of death are viewed for various subgroups. In 2004, Unintentional injuries, mainly motor vehicle crashes, were the fifth leading cause of death for the total population,1 but they were the leading cause of death for people aged 1 to 44 years.2 Similarly, in 2004, The death rate for HIV/AIDS was 4.5 for the total population but 39.9 for African American men aged 25 to 44 years.3 According to NCHS, the following are the ten leading causes of death in the U.S. in 2004 for all Americans:
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