Eliminating racial, ethnic disparities in health
Diabetes is one of six major areas covered under the Clinton administration’s effort at eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in six major areas of health status by the year 2010. Just over a year ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched the effort, which targets inequalities in the areas of infant mortality, cancer screening and management, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV infection, and child and adult immunizations.
The HHS action plan includes funding research in the area of racial and ethnic health disparities, expanding and improving existing programs to purchase or deliver quality health services, starting programs to reduce poverty and provide children with safe and healthy environments, and expansion of prevention programs.
$10 million project planned
Through HHS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will administer a $10 million demonstration project that will test models for reducing disparities in specific minority populations. According to information published by HHS, the project will allow "multiple communities to design and test community- tailored interventions."
The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) will sponsor a series of regional workshops in 1999,"Decreasing the Gap: Developing a Research Agenda on Socioeconomic Status, Environmental Exposures and Health Disparities."
The workshops, which have been scheduled for Baltimore, May 26-28 and July 7-9, in Chicago, will be devoted to issues examining the relationships among poverty, pollution, and health status, and designed to generate ideas and stimulate discussion on research activities that will drive:
• the design of action plans to lessen the adverse health impact of hazardous environmental exposures on populations of low socioeconomic status;
• the development of research directions to enhance our understanding of how socioeconomic status and hazardous environmental exposures interact to contribute to disparities in health.
Environmental health researchers, community leaders, and health care providers are encouraged to take part. For more information, please see the NIEHS Web site at http://www.niehs.nih. gov/dert/gap.htm or contact conference coordinator Michelle Beckner at (703) 902-1269 or [email protected].
For more information on the complete HHS initiative, visit the initiative’s Web site at http://raceandhealth.hhs.gov.
Resources
For more information about developing diabetes treatment programs for all patient groups, contact:
• The American Diabetes Association has launched an educational initiative focused on Hispanic communities, Diabetes Assistance and Resources (DAR). The DAR program offers risk screening, referrals, community activities, education, and support. For more information, contact the American Diabetes Association at (800) DIABETES or (800) 342-2383.
• American Diabetes Association, Diabetes Information Service Center, 1660 Duke St., Alexandria, VA. 22314.
• American Dietetic Association, 216 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60606-6995. Telephone: (312) 899-0040.
• National Coalition of Hispanic Health and Human Service Organizations, 1501 16th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20036. Telephone: (202) 387-5000.
• Robert Stone, One Burton Hills Blvd., Suite 300, Nashville, TN 37215. Telephone: (615) 665-7760.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 1600 Clifton Road, MS D-25, Atlanta, GA 30333. Telephone: (877) CDC-DIAB. World Wide Web: http:www.cdc.gov/diabetes.
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