[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 6, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3784-S3785]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      NATIONAL PUBLIC HEALTH WEEK

  Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I recognize the American Public Health 
Association's 14th annual National Public Health Week. I specifically 
want to acknowledge and commend the Association on its theme this year: 
``Eliminating Health Disparities: Communities Moving from Statistics to 
Solutions.''
  Our public health practitioners affect all areas of life as they 
fulfill their mission of promoting health and preventing disease at the 
broader ``population'' level. The American Public Health Association is 
the oldest and largest organization of public health professionals and 
has had an enormous influence on public health priorities and policies 
for over 100 years.
  As we begin National Public Health Week, it is clear how the 
Association's selection of a particular theme can make a significant 
difference in how we develop our health agenda as a nation. I think 
this year's choice will be no exception and that it will be an impetus 
for frank and thoughtful discussion about what should be one of the

[[Page S3785]]

Nation's most critical priorities, the need to address health 
disparities.
  The first NIH Working Group on Health Disparities defined health and 
health care disparities as ``differences in the incidence, prevalence, 
mortality, and burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions 
that exist among specific population groups in the United States.'' I 
take a moment to highlight just a few of these differences.
  Statistics from the Department of Health and Human Services Report 
entitled ``National Health Care Disparities'' bear out that minorities 
are less likely to be given appropriate cardiac medications or to 
undergo bypass surgery, and are less likely to receive kidney dialysis 
or transplants. The same study has shown that minorities are less 
likely to receive the most sophisticated treatments for HIV infection, 
which could forestall the onset of AIDS. Our minority communities are 
instead more likely to receive less desirable, non state-of-the-art 
procedures, such as lower limb amputations for diabetes and other 
conditions.
  These disparities also put our children at significant risk. In my 
own State of Maryland, the Infant Mortality rate for African Americans 
is two times higher than for Caucasian Americans.
  And these disparities do not only occur along racial lines. Healthy 
People 2010 and the National Health Care Disparities Report show that 
those who live in our more rural communities face similar inequitable 
treatment. Rural community residents have less contact and fewer visits 
with physicians, even though these residents tend to have a heightened 
need for health care. Indeed, injury rates in rural communities are 40 
percent higher than in urban areas.
  Women are 20 times more likely than men to die from a heart attack. 
Statistics from the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality reflect 
that women receive less aggressive treatment for heart related ailments 
than men, and are less likely to receive life saving drugs such as 
lidocaine, beta-blockers and aspirin for heart attacks.
  Persons with disabilities face significant disparities in the care 
they are afforded as do the indigent; the list goes on and on. These 
are just a few examples of how this inequity affects our population.
  The State of Maryland has engaged in a number of statewide and local 
initiatives to address health care disparities in our communities. At 
the Federal level, I have cosponsored S. 1833, the Healthcare Equality 
and Accountability Act, which seeks to eliminate racial and ethnic 
health disparities in health care. I hope we can use the momentum 
created by this week and redouble our efforts to ensure comprehensive 
quality health care for all of America's citizen's regardless of their 
race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, education level, 
geographic location, disability or sexual orientation.
  Again, I commend the American Public Health Association for focusing 
the Nation's attention on this important issue and for serving to 
increase the dialogue to rid the country of these inequities. I hope my 
colleagues offer their support to this important effort as well.

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