April is National Minority Health Month: Who Knew!? Who Cares?

We live in an interesting time. "Snooki" of reality TV fame was recently paid $32,000 to tell Rutgers University students about hairstyles, fist pumps and tanning, while the institution will pay Nobel prize-winning author Toni Morrison two thousand dollars less to deliver their commencement address in May. Go figure.

Charlie Sheen's current conduct has occupied minutes (hours?) of national network and cable TV programming, but I have not found one news program, one national news producer, or one news anchor who has yet given voice to minority health.

Should anyone really care about "minority health"? What if you're not a minority; why should you even give a flip? For one, the country's demographics are changing at a rate faster than it took me to write this essay. Recently-released Census data shows a major increase in the Hispanic population, some increase in the Asian population, Blacks are mostly holding steady in numbers and there's a decreasing numbers of Whites. Since most of the data that is gathered and published mostly refers to White populations, the numbers, findings and recommendations may be askew for those in non-White populations.

A major focus of (and much funding from) the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) pertains to minority health. Asian-Americans do extremely well in most health care areas, but for other minorities, there are many reasons why "ethnic health disparities" continue to exist.

As a physician and surgeon who has examined, treated and operated on people of many ethnic persuasions, I can say with reasonable certainty that the normal male and female anatomy and physiology is the same, regardless of race. The hair might be a different texture, the skin a different tone, but the inner workings are all the same. So, if structure and function are the same, why are health care outcomes so terribly different in many cases?

Dr. Jane Delgado, author, and president of the National Alliance of Hispanic Health says she finds, "The major challenge is the lack of knowledge about Hispanic health." She also stated that writing about minority health is "a labor of love," because it's hard to get the media to allow time for the subject. I agree.

In the Black community, many people know about the health challenges, but some carry historical fear when dealing with the medical community [think Tuskegee experiment]. Some look only to their faith for healing. Some espouse what grandma used to do. Many feel invincible, and others are simply apathetic. "Lack of access to care" and "lack of insurance" are also factors, but even for people with those benefits, outcome is often the same.

For Black women, there is also the added psycho-social stress of rejection, low marriage stats and other stressors that do affect physical health. I fully expound on this in Living Well, Despite Catchin' Hell: The Black Woman's Guide to Health, Sex and Happiness and I will address this further in the next few posts during this month. Stay tuned, subscribe so you don't miss a post and share this blog with friends.

Remember April is National Poetry Month and National Minority Health Month. In the newest and only current book addressing Black women's health, I provide comparative health outcome statistics for Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans. Check out Living Well. Michelle Obama, our First Lady, is a woman of color; perhaps her lending her voice to minority health will help bring attention to health issues affecting tens of millions of Americans today. It would help if some TV networks would allow one minute of air time to address the topic, as well.

[Photo, "Repairing the Damage," courtesy of artist, Leroy Campbell.]

Be Healthy, Be Blessed...and make sure you are Living Well!

Copyright © 2011 Dr. Melody T. McCloud