Washington, D.C. - At every stage of life,
African Americans experience health and health care differently from whites.
As a whole, African Americans gain less frequent access to the health care
system, get sick more often, suffer from more serious diseases, and die
sooner and in greater numbers than other Americans.
Last January, the Surgeon General's Office
vowed to eliminate 'Not Reduce' disparities in health and health care within
the next ten years as part of the Healthy People 2010 initiative. But what
will it take? What are the key issues? What legislation is needed to ensure
equal quality medical treatment and access to health care for African Americans?
And who should decide?
These questions and more will be addressed
in a community forum called Race, Health Care & Ethics: Speaking Truth
to Power, sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust,
in conjunction with Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in
Research and Health Care and Howard University Medical School Program in
Clinical Ethics.
Panelists will examine causes of racial
disparities and what the government must do to fulfill the Healthy People
2010 objectives. A public policy agenda including research, education,
health care administration and delivery is the intended outcome.