WASHINGTON – More programs need to be developed to address the specific health needs of minority women, Elena Cohen said at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association.
“Racial minorities are projected to make up almost half the population by 2050,” said Ms. Cohen, senior counsel at the nonprofit National Women's Law Center. “But there's not much analysis of [health data on] racial and ethnic groups by gender.”
To further examine the issue, the center analyzed data on women's health from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The center's report, “Making the Grade on Women's Health,” outlines disparities in women's health care in different states.
For example, black women have the highest rate of Pap smears and the lowest rate of osteoporosis, compared with other groups, but they also have the shortest life expectancy and the highest poverty rate, and they are least likely to get prenatal care. They have the highest mortality rates for coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes, and the highest incidence of AIDS and lung cancer, Ms. Cohen noted.
Latinas have the lowest mortality rate from stroke but are the second-least likely group to be screened for cervical cancer, and they fare worse than other groups in cervical cancer incidence and mortality, she said. This group has the highest percentage of uninsured women and the highest percentage of women who do no physical activity in their leisure time.
American Indian and Alaskan Native women had the second-lowest morality rate from stroke, but they fared worst of all groups for smoking, binge drinking, mortality from cirrhosis, and violence against them, Ms. Cohen said.
“The Asian-American/Pacific Islander group fared best in preventive health behaviors and in avoiding obesity and smoking, but these women do have other issues,” she said. But the report noted that cervical and ovarian cancer disproportionately affect these women, who are the second least likely group to have had a mammogram within the last 2 years.