2009 Health Disparities Report Shows Challenges Ahead

Hartford — “A number of significant health disparities … present a formidable challenge to public health” in Connecticut. That is a conclusion of The 2009 Connecticut Health Disparities Report recently released by the state Department of Public Health (DPH).

The report is a result of a two-year cooperative agreement begun in 2006 with the Connecticut Health Foundation (CT Health), whose goal is to decrease racial and ethnic health disparities in the state. The agreement supports the DPH’s Connecticut Health Disparities Project to improve the statewide system for documenting, reporting and addressing health disparities among racial and ethnic minority groups.

The last DPH multicultural report was published in 1999. CT Health has commissioned a comparison of 1999 and 2009 DPH reports, which is expected to be released in June.

The 2009 report defines health disparities as “those avoidable differences in health that result from cumulative social disadvantage.” The report also notes that:

*Racial and ethnic diversity is increasing in Connecticut.

*Data in this report consistently show that there are striking health and social inequalities between racial and ethnic population groups in the state.

*Connecticut data provide evidence for health disparities and mirror the findings of many such studies nationwide.

Among its key findings, the report notes that:

1. From 2000 to 2004, black or African American Connecticut residents had the highest death rate from:

*All causes (approximately 1.2 times higher than white residents)

*Heart disease (1.2 times)

*Cancer (1.1 times)

*Stroke (1.4 times)

*Diabetes (2.5 times; death rate for Hispanics was 1.5 times)

2. Hispanic children had the largest percentage of tooth decay (49.3 percent) among Connecticut kindergarten and third-grade students from 2006-2007.

3. Among Asians in the state, the tuberculosis rate was 23 times higher than whites from 2000 to 2005.

4. Among Native American children in the state screened for blood lead in 2006, almost three times as many had elevated levels than whites.

A copy of the executive summary is available at www.ct.gov/dph