Health care crisis in the black community: an epidemiological view

Health care professionals must recognize Black populations' health care needs and target efforts to meet those needs whenever possible. In the future we hope mandated by federal regulations--congressman Louis Stokes of Ohio forwarded me a copy of the Disadvantaged Minority Health Improvement Act of 1990 (H.R. 5702) which was passed by the House of Representatives in October (1990). This amends the Public Health Service Act and provides for a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health who is charged with, among a myriad of functions, promoting minority health through the support of "research, demonstrations and evaluations to test new and innovative models, to increase knowledge and understanding of health risk factors, and to develop mechanisms that support better information dissemination, education, prevention and service delivery to individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds, including racial and ethnic minorities" (Dingell, 1990, p.3). Scholarships will be available to increase the number of minority health care workers. Hopefully, all health care workers will recognize the needs of Blacks and attempt to meet those needs. Nurse educators can facilitate this through their practices, research and teaching to increase access to health care for the Black community. Epidemiology in the curriculum will help accomplish this goal.