[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 105 (Monday, July 29, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1439]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 LATINO CHILDREN AND HEALTH DISPARITIES

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                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 26, 2002

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to call to the attention of my 
colleagues the growing health problems of Latino children.
  The Journal of the American Medical Association reports that Latino 
children have suffered from ``a disproportionate number of health 
problems that have been poorly studied.'' Diabetes, obesity, and asthma 
are disproportionately prevalent in the Latino community. Additionally, 
about 30% of the Latino population are uninsured and of those that do 
have health insurance, many have problems gaining proper access to 
medical attention.
  Language barriers often continue to exist despite the executive order 
issued by President Clinton in August 2000 ``mandating that physicians 
who receive Medicaid and Medicare funds provide interpreter services 
for patients who do not speak English.'' Yet citing cost, national 
medical associations are opposed to implementing these services.
  Far too little health research has been conducted within minority 
populations. This fosters a lack of clarity in the etiology of common 
diseases among minority communities.
  As a result, medical practitioners are hampered in developing 
culturally sound intervention that promotes the well-being of minority 
individuals. For example, why do Latino children tend to receive less 
pain medication than white or African-American children while 
hospitalized for limb fractures?
  Access to health care, quality of care, health insurance coverage, 
environment, and lifestyle are most likely the contributing factors, 
but we do not understand the dynamics of why minorities, especially 
children, are not benefiting from our health care system.
  Eliminating health disparities in minority communities has been a 
major goal since the year 2000. In that year, the Office of Research on 
Minority Health (ORMH), originally established in 1990, was elevated to 
the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD). 
This effort was encouraged by Congress to ``promote minority health and 
to lead, coordinate, support, and assess the NIH effort to reduce and 
ultimately eliminate health disparities'' and to ``reach out to 
minority and other health disparity communities.''
  It is imperative that we begin to envision this country as a place 
where all populations have equal opportunity to live long, healthy, and 
productive lives. More research on health disparities in minority 
populations must be conducted and doctors, health officials, and the 
American people must recognize that these disparities are a very real 
problem.
  We must take a stand to seriously address the health disparities 
within Latino children and other minority populations.

                [From the New York Times, July 26, 2002]

                   Health Problems of Latino Children

       One in every six American children is Hispanic, but it's 
     hard to find them in the research on child health. According 
     to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Latino 
     children suffer from a disproportionate number of health 
     problems that have been poorly studied. Diabetes is on the 
     rise, and Latino boys have the highest rates of obesity among 
     young people, but researchers don't know why. They also don't 
     know why Puerto Rican children have rates of asthma higher 
     than those in any other region.
       Many of the statistics pose mysteries that go beyond the 
     fact that Hispanic children are less likely to be covered by 
     health insurance than are children in other ethnic groups. 
     For instance, Latino children who are hospitalized with limb 
     fractures receive less pain medication than do white or 
     African-American youths. No one seems to know why, and data 
     is hard to collect because Hispanic children are often 
     included in the categories of white, black or ``other'' in 
     medical research. Many researchers also ignore these children 
     and their parents by excluding non-English-speakers from 
     their studies.
       Much more research is clearly necessary. Meanwhile one 
     obvious place to start narrowing the health gap for Latino 
     children is the language barriers. President Bill Clinton 
     issued an executive order in August 2000 mandating that 
     physicians who receive Medicaid and Medicare funds provide 
     interpreter services for patients who do not speak English. 
     The rules are flexible, but the national medical associations 
     have opposed them as being too costly. Given the disturbing 
     data on the state of Latino children's health, their 
     objections send the wrong message.

     

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