The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has unveiled a groundbreaking initiative to address longstanding racial disparities in kidney transplantation. The proposed Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model aims to revolutionize the organ transplant system by improving access, quality of care, and equity for all individuals with end-stage renal disease.HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra highlighted the stark reality of racial inequities in organ transplantation, noting that Black Americans disproportionately struggle with kidney disease yet receive a smaller percentage of kidney transplants. The Biden-Harris Administration is taking concrete steps to eliminate racial bias in calculating wait times and root out profiteering…
Author: Disparity Matters
A new study reveals alarming racial disparities in rising U.S. child mortality rates, with Black and Native American youth facing the greatest increases. Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University found that between 2014 and 2020, mortality rates rose 36.7% for Black youth and 22.3% for Native American youth, compared to just 4.7% for white youth. The study, published in JAMA, analyzed over 20 years of CDC death certificate data for ages 1-19. Lead author Dr. Elizabeth Wolf noted, “While we saw that the overall pediatric all-cause mortality rate in the United States began to increase around 2020 and 2021, for Native American,…
The American Cancer Society has released a groundbreaking report focusing on cancer facts and figures for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, revealing significant disparities in cancer rates and outcomes among these groups. According to the report, Asian Americans have a 40% lower overall cancer death rate compared to white people. Rebecca Siegel, one of the report’s authors, attributes this to lower smoking and obesity rates among Asian Americans, which contribute to reduced lung cancer incidence – the leading cause of cancer deaths. However, the report highlights troubling disparities for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, who die from preventable…
Black, Hispanic, and Native American patients were significantly more likely to lose Medicaid coverage during the recent “unwinding” process, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Health Forum. Over 17 million Americans have lost Medicaid coverage in the past year as states began reassessing eligibility following the end of pandemic-era continuous enrollment policies. The study found that Black patients were 10% more likely than White patients to be disenrolled, while Hispanic patients were nearly 20% more likely. Native American and Alaskan Native patients faced the highest disparity, being more than twice as likely to…
John D. Carpten investigated cancer genomics to explain higher rate and mortality from prostate cancer among Black men and other underserved populations
Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders face dramatically higher risks for certain types of cancer compared to White Americans, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society. The report highlights significant racial disparities in cancer rates and outcomes. For Chinese, Filipino, Korean and Vietnamese people in the U.S., cancer is the leading cause of death. It ranks second for Asian Indian, Native Hawaiian and Japanese people.Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander groups face particularly stark disparities. They are 75% more likely to die from liver cancer and two to three times more likely to die from cervical, stomach and…
Esperanza Díaz founded a Hispanic Psychiatry Fellowship and expanded mental-health services tailored for Latinos with limited English proficiency
Looming abortion bans in Florida and Arizona could have dire consequences for Black reproductive health, exacerbating existing disparities in access to care and maternal mortality rates. Florida’s six-week ban, signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis last year, is set to take effect on May 1, while Arizona’s Supreme Court has paved the way to reinforce a Civil War-era law criminalizing nearly all abortions. Over half of the country’s Black population resides in the Southeast, where many of the strictest abortion laws have taken hold, backed largely by Republican lawmakers. Ciné Julien, a reproductive justice organizer for Florida Access Network, stated,…
A new study from the University of Michigan highlights how state abortion bans disproportionately impact American Indian, Alaska Native, and Black women’s access to reproductive health services. Researchers analyzed data from the Guttmacher Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, finding significant racial and ethnic disparities in abortion rates. American Indian and Alaska Native women had the highest abortion rates at 14.8 per 1,000 women aged 15-44, followed by Black women at 11.9 per 1,000. “These higher rates likely reflect systemic barriers to contraceptive access and use,” said lead author Alyssa Tilhou, a graduate student in the Department…
A groundbreaking study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers has uncovered a striking 10-year gap in life expectancy between the wealthiest and poorest individuals in a predominantly Black population. Led by Dr. Wei Zheng, director of the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center, the study analyzed data from 19,749 deaths over an 18-year period. The findings, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, revealed that participants earning less than $15,000 annually died over a decade earlier on average compared to those with incomes exceeding $50,000. The research team emphasized the importance of addressing racial and income disparities in mortality through comprehensive measures.…