National Minority AIDS Council Building Healthier Communities
Building Leadership in Communities of Color to Address HIV/AIDS
Women of Color and Health Disparities
Women of Color and Health Disparities
Racial Disparities in Medicine Have Lethal
Consequences (December 2004)
Advances in medicine happen every day, and these advances save
lives. But a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health
examines how these advances do not reach all populations equally, and mortality
rates have decreased among white people at a greater rate than for
African-Americans. The study's conclusion: racial disparities in healthcare
resulted in nearly 900,000 preventable deaths for African-Americans in the
period between 1991-2001. According to one of the researchers, "five times
as many lives can be saved by correcting the disparities ... than in developing
new treatments." Click
here to read more or here to read the
abstract.
Fibroids |
| Uterine fibroids are the most common pelvic tumor in women, and are about three times more common in Black women than in White women. Learn about fibroids and what you can do to keep yourself safe. |
HPV |
| According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired a genital HPV infection. Often there are no symptoms for this illness - which is why knowledge is vital in preventing and treating it. Take a moment to get the facts and help prevent the spread of this disease. |
Reproductive/Sexual/Maternal Health |
The Alan Guttmacher Institute Mocha Moms, Inc. African-American Women's Maternal Health - Surveys have long since established disparities in maternal healthcare for African-American women - that they are three times more likely to die than white women to die from pregnancy-related complications and that their babies are half as likely to live out their first year. But the causes of this disparity are not fully understood, despite the existing data. A new study out of the University of Michigan is examining African-American women's maternal health, but from a variety of angles, including socioeconomic disparities, bias and discrimination. An interdisciplinary approach to the problem may be the start of an effective solution. Click here to read more. |