Most, if not all, African Americans look at President Barack Obama as the ultimate symbol of the gains our people have made in the last several decades. Yes, there is still work to be done but we are, on the surface, doing better economically and financially than we were just a few generations ago. Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll find that huge disparities still exist. Health and healthcare are two of the areas you’ll find those glaring holes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, African Americans are affected by and die from heart disease, diabetes, cancer, HIV and homicide at disproportionate rates. Our infant death rate is more than double that of whites. Heart disease death rates are 40 percent higher for African Americans than for whites and the death rate for all cancers is 30 percent higher for us than for whites. The death rate from HIV/AIDS for African Americans is more than seven times that for whites, while the rate of homicide is six times that for whites.
Sobering news, indeed. Why are we affected at such alarmingly high rates? There are many reasons and poverty is among them. Many African Americans have no health insurance and a trip to the doctor is an expense many can’t afford. For those who do have insurance, the co-pay for a doctor’s visit is often too high.
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