Efforts Fund Breast Cancer Services For Minorities; Seek To Address Health Disparities; Call For HIV Testing Among Asians, Pacific Islanders

The following highlights efforts that seek to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities.

Colorado: The Colorado Minority Health Advisory Commission is holding several town-hall forums throughout the state to discuss ways to eliminate health disparities, the Colorado Springs Gazette reports. The commission, which was formed seven years ago, will award between $10 million and $12 million to Colorado communities to address health disparities, Ned Calonge, chief medical officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said. Anthony Young, a psychologist and chair of the commission, said there is a need for increased health education and awareness, including information on how to receive no-cost health screenings, in minority communities (Newsome, Colorado Springs Gazette, 5/15).



HIV testing: Anthony Fauci, director of NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called for increased HIV testing among Asian and Pacific Island communities ahead of the fifth annual National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which took place on Tuesday. According to Fauci, public health officials and caregivers should increase efforts to communicate messages about HIV prevention to Asian and Pacific Islander communities in linguistically appropriate and culturally relevant ways. In addition, the NIH Office of AIDS Research recently published the fiscal year 2010 Trans-NIH Plan for HIV-Related Research, which contains a chapter on how to address HIV/AIDS among Asians and Pacific Islanders and other minority groups (NIH release, 5/18).



Oregon/Washington: The Oregon and Southwest Washington Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure recently awarded $2 million to organizations that support health care for American Indian, Asian, Hispanic and Russian communities in Oregon and southwest Washington to fund breast cancer research and services to medically underserved populations, the Burns Times-Herald reports. The grant also will be used to provide health care in rural areas. The initiative will provide services to more than 24,000 men and women who are experiencing language and cultural barriers, financial difficulties and transportation issues that limit their access to health care. In addition, the program will provide support services to women who are in treatment for breast cancer, as well as to breast cancer survivors (Burns Times-Herald, 5/20).
Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

© 2009 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.