Grim Medical Statistics Define Hispanic Population

Latina teenagers have the highest birthrate in the nation, and yet a third of the estimated 10 million uninsured children in the U.S. are Latino.

Among Teenagers:
Latinas had 107 births per 1,000

Blacks had 99 births per 1,000

Whites had 39 births per 1,000

In 1995, Latinas, for the first time in U.S. history, had the highest teenage birthrate in the nation, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

As the need for bilingual and bicultural doctors becomes vital, the number of Latinos applying to medical schools has dropped due to the effect of recent court decisions against affirmative-action policies in university admission.

"It will likely get worse," said Dr. Elena Rios, president of National Hispanic Medical Association. The group gathered policy makers, Latino physicians and academics at its second annual conference in Washington, D.C., to address the issues that many contend have long been overlooked.

 One of every three Latinos are uninsured. A third of the estimated 10 million uninsured children in the U.S. are Latino, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Most of these children have working parents but cannot afford private insurance and are not poor enough to be eligible for Medicare.
Diabetes among Latinos is soaring. The cost of lifesaving devices such as pacemakers is becoming out of reach for most working-class Latinos. The medical therapies that could slow the rate of progression of HIV to its lethal stages of AIDS are not reaching Hispanics.
The conference comes at a time when President Clinton announced a $400 million initiative to eliminate health disparities between Whites and all other Americans by the year 2010. The initiative would cost $400 million over five years, combined with private sector help.
The percentage of Mexican-American students applying to medical schools dropped 13.8% last year and for mainland Puerto Ricans, 16.5%, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
The rate of progression of Latinos infected with the HIV to its lethal stages of AIDS remains three times higher than that of Whites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some $30 million per year would go to 30 communities to focus on one or two health problems and develop model strategies, said U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, who is leading the campaign.
 By 2005, Latinos are expected to surpass African Americans as the nation's second-largest population group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Source: Louis Aguilar, Latino Focus, Knight Rider/Tribune Information Services

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