Diagnosis: Disparities How do we combat the glaring health-care inequalities impacting the Latino community? Elena Rios, who heads the National Hispanic Medical Association, says it starts with improved representation in leadership positions and a commitment to delivering culturally competent care.
Twenty-one of the nation’s leading Hispanic organizations announced this weekend their endorsement of a public-education campaign aimed at strengthening support for LGBT families.
The campaign is called “Familia es Familia.”
Public opinion polls show that Latinos lead the way when it comes to attitudes toward lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. Recent studies by the Pew Hispanic Center, Bendixen & Amandi International, 2012 Opportunity Agenda and SSRS found strong support among Hispanics for a number of LGBT issues.
NEW YORK--()--The National Hispanic Medical Association & the Latino Commission on AIDS announced today in New York City their agreement to establish a groundbreaking partnership. Both organizations will develop a joint effort to complement their strengths and to continue aiming to reach healthy communities in the United States & Territories.
“The strategic partnership under this collaboration will develop joint efforts throughout the country in response to the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and health disparities in our Hispanic communities” stated Dr. Elena Rios, President/CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association.
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION
Thursday, June 28th, 2012
Individual mandate is a valid exercise of Congressional power
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Today, in a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court of the United States held the Affordable Care Actconstitutional. The Court concluded that the individual mandate, which requires individuals to purchase health insurance, was a valid and constitutional exercise of congressional power. The NHLA commends the Supreme Court for upholding the Affordable Care Act.
In one of the most closely watched Supreme Court decisions, the Justices ruled the Obama administration can proceed with its landmark health care legislation. The Supreme Court said the administration can force people to buy health insurance as a mandate, but not as a penalty, but as a tax.
The issue of how to expand coverage to the nation’s almost 50 million uninsured Americans has been fiercely debated for decades, and has eluded American presidents since Richard Nixon, who supported the idea of universal coverage. For Latinos, access to health care has been a real challenge; currently 16 million Latinos lack coverage. In fact, almost one out of every three uninsured Americans is Hispanic. Most health care coverage is employer-based, and a majority of Latinos work in small businesses which do not offer insurance. The law is expected to expand coverage to 6 million Hispanics.
While everyone is waiting to see whether the Supreme Court will either uphold or repeal all or part of President Obama’s landmark health care reform law, one thing is not in dispute. The current system is not serving Latinos well.
La significativa desigualdad en el cuidado de la salud, que afecta a minorías raciales y étnicas, fueron el tema central de la 16ª conferencia anual de la Asociación Nacional de Médicos Hispanos -NHMA, por sus siglas en inglés- donde médicos hispanos de todo el país se dieron cita con el fin de abordar “Las innovaciones que mejoran la salud de los hispanos, de las familias y de las comunidades”. El evento contó con la participación de la secretaria de Salud y Servicios Humanos de EE.UU., Kathleen Sebelius; el ministro de salud de México, Salomón Chertorivski Woldenberg y la presidenta de la NHMA, Elena Ríos, entre otros.
The current amicus brief filed by these organizations relates to the case currently pending with the Supreme Court on the issue of constitutionality of the “minimum coverage provision” of the ACA: HHS v. Florida (11-398).
The organizations on the brief represent hundreds of thousands of physicians and medical students, and the interests of millions of nurses who care for patients in communities across the country every day.
Here are statements from several organizations on the brief:
A new study named STARSHIP (STudy Assessing Rosuvastatin in HIspanic Population) was presented at the National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA) annual meeting. STARSHIP is the first-ever large-scale, prospective trial exclusively designed to compare the effects of statins in Hispanic patients.
STARSHIP evaluated the efficacy of AstraZeneca's CRESTOR, a statin used to treat high cholesterol, compared to atorvastatin. It found that CRESTOR in 10 and 20 mg doses helped to reduce LDL cholesterol (or "bad" cholesterol) by 45.2 and 50 percent, vs. 35.9 and 42.4 percent for similar doses of atorvastatin (p<0.017). In Hispanic patients, CRESTOR reduced total blood cholesterol levels by 32.4 and 34.9 percent compared to 25.6 and 30.9 percent for atorvastatin (p<0.017).
Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the nation and many are living in or near urban areas, which makes them disproportionately impacted by air pollution, a national report released Tuesday states.
In New Jersey, several counties, including Bergen, Passaic, and Hudson counties, home to a growing number of Hispanics, do not meet federal ozone standards, according to information from the Environmental Protection Agency.
“We already have higher rates of asthma than others in our country because Latinos live in poor communities where there are lots of air pollutants but especially we are looking at smog and ozone,” said Elena Rios, president and CEO of National Hispanic Medical Association, one of the organizations to release the report on Tuesday during a telephone news conference.
So far, a pledge for commitment to promote AHRQ's Spanish-language, evidence-based resources have been signed by ten organizations, including the Latino Student Medical Association, National Hispanic Medical Association, District of Columbia Office on Latino Affairs, Telemundo, National Association of Hispanic Elderly, National Latina Health Network, and the National Center for Farmworkers Health.
