Home  News Local News Is being Black a health risk?
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Is being Black a health risk? |
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Friday, 25 July 2008 |
A coalition of medical experts and civic leaders met in a town hall meeting Monday at Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens, to discuss the epidemic of health disparities that face members of the black population in Miami-Dade.
The organizer of the forum Marsha Jenakovich, the senior health and evaluation specialist for Health Council of South Florida Inc., a Miami Dade non-profit specializing in health planning, said she believes that there is a problem when the primary risk factor to some people’s health is being black. She also said that many of the health disparities faced by members of the black population can be linked directly to race, irrespective of income and social status.
Data provided indicated that Black people in Miami-Dade are more than twice likely to die from diseases like diabetes, cancer and asthma, compared to members of the white and Hispanic population.
One of the objectives of the forum was to arrive at an understanding as to why in American neighborhoods where there are large percentages of African and Caribbean Americans, they have the worst health outcomes than people of other ethnicities. When there is this understanding, then attempts can be made to remove this disparity.
According to reports, Jenakovich said the health council is in the process of creating a directory of health care providers trained in cultural competence courses, as this should enable them to better serve a diverse population like Miami-Dade’s.
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