Blacks in Baltimore are far more likely to die from heart disease, stroke and diabetes than white residents, reflecting the nationwide racial gap in health access and outcome.
Health officials are taking steps to close this gap by tailoring programs and reaching out into the community.
“Many of the things we do to improve health in Baltimore will have the effect of reducing disparities,” said Baltimore City Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein.
One of the programs was the launch in August of a task force of health and food experts aimed at cutting down salt consumption, a culprit of high blood pressure and increased risks of heart attack and stroke. Blacks are particularly sensitive to salt, health officials said.
Health disparities between races, genders and socio-economic groups continue to consume public health officials struggling to determine the cause of the gaps and develop policies to close them.
A 2002 report from the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies summarized research on disparities and brought the issue to the forefront, said Thomas LaVeist, professor and director of the Center for Health Disparities Solutions at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
“There are some policy-makers that are tuned into the fact that there is a problem,” he said.
The National Institutes of Health created a national center, and Congress requested annual reports on health disparities, he said.
Dr. Claudia Baquet, director of the Center for Health Disparities and Outreach at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who has led studies on the lack of minority participation in clinical trials, said there also has been an increase in investment from large foundations, such as the Kaiser Family Foundation, to fund community programs.
Baquet lauded Baltimore’s approach, which involves leaders in the faith community and social services.
“You can’t deal with one level of the health care system or community,” she said.
Recent talk by President-elect Barack Obama of a national health care solution also may serve to address health disparities, because access to affordable and quality care must be part of the strategy, Baquet said.
Despite the recent increased interest, health disparities are complex and solutions aren’t easily legislated or boiled down into a simple message for the public, LaVeist said.
“If it was simple,” he said, “it wouldn’t be life’s work.”
