Jimmy Carter says lack of medical access hurts minorities

Originally published in The Houston Chronicle February 10, 2005

Copyright 2005 The Houston Chronicle Publishing Company  

By: RENEE C. LEE


THE WOODLANDS - Growing up in Plains, Ga., former President Carter saw firsthand the correlation between poor black people and poor health care.

Many of his neighbors - all of whom were black sharecroppers and farm day-workers - relied on his mother's expertise because no public health care facility was nearby.

"My mother was a registered nurse and she was in fact their doctor because they didn't have access to a doctor," Carter said at a panel discussion Wednesday on racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care, sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Decades later, blacks and Hispanics and other minorities who are poor face the same access problem, resulting in health disparities.

Increased awareness at the local and national levels and a commitment by community leaders to adopt projects to address the issue are needed, Carter said.

"I don't think the average American has the slightest idea that African Americans have 70 percent more diabetes than white people and that they have 35 percent more cancer deaths," Carter said. "It shows how badly America has failed in providing equity in good health care."

Focusing attention

The three-day seminar at the Woodlands Resort and Conference Center is an effort to heighten public awareness.

Participants, including school leaders, community members, policy makers and representatives from government agencies, will create an agenda for schools and public health programs to improve health in their communities, said Kellogg President Dr. William Richardson.

Recent nationwide reports on health disparities show that blacks, Hispanics and Asians suffer from more life-threatening diseases than whites and die more often than whites, mainly because they have less access to health care than whites.

Higher death rates

For example, the infant death rate among African Americans is 2.5 times the rate for whites; 33 percent of Latinos between 65 and 74 have diabetes compared with 17 percent of non-Hispanic whites in the same age group; and more than 75 percent of AIDS cases reported among women and children affect minorities.

A number of social factors contribute to the problem, including racism and discrimination, said Richardson, who participated in the panel discussion with Carter.

Richardson said civil rights laws require that health providers not discriminate in providing services, but it happens - whether it is unintentional or otherwise.

Since leaving the White House, Carter has devoted most of his time to addressing health care issues in poor countries through his humanitarian organization, The Carter Center.

Through the center's efforts, Guinea worm disease in Africa and Asia has been reduced by 99 percent. The center also is working to reduce and eliminate other major diseases including onchocerciasis, also known as river blindness; trachoma; and lymphatic filariasis - all preventable diseases.