Eliminating Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Health Care

The United States today is a multicultural nation with a rapidly growing racial and ethnic minority population. Minorities are expected to represent 40% of the population by 2035 and 47% by 2050.¹ And while the white labor force is projected to grow at a rate of only 3% between 2002 and 2012, the Asian labor force is projected to grow at a rate of 51% during the same period.²

Meanwhile, wide health-related disparities exist among the country’s racial and ethnic populations. The rate of diabetes is about 70% higher in African Americans than in white Americans, the rate of cervical cancer is about five times higher in Vietnamese women than in white women, and the rate of stomach cancer is two to three times higher in Latinos than in whites. ³

Furthermore, and perhaps even more concerning, racial and ethnic disparities also exist in the way health care services are provided and in health care outcomes. Minorities are less likely than whites to receive needed services involving cancer, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and mental illness.⁴ Infant mortality rates are 2.5 and 1.5 times higher for African Americans and American Indians, respectively, than for whites. ¹ African Americans and American Indians/Alaska Natives have higher rates of influenza mortality than do whites.¹ African American women are more likely than white women to die from breast cancer, even though the disease is less common among African American women. ¹ And African Americans are 3.6 times more likely than whites to lose lower limbs due to diabetes. ⁵