Health Disparities affect all minority groups through a variety of chronic diseases. The quick facts below serve as just a snapshot.

• African Americans represent only 12.6% of the US population but account for 26% of all asthma deaths.⁴
• The age-adjusted death rate is three times the rate among African Americans (3.2 per 100,000) than compared with whites (1.1 per 100,000). ⁴
• In 2003, African American women had the highest mortality rate due to asthma. ⁴
• Though Hispanics generally have lower asthma prevalence and death rates when compared with African Americans or Whites, Puerto Ricans have higher prevalence rates than other Hispanic subgroups and non-Hispanic Whites. ⁴

• African Americans are more likely to die from cancer than any other racial or ethnic group.¹
• In 2003, the cancer death rates among adult African American males was about 35% higher than among white males and 18% higher for adult African American females.²
• African American women have 30% higher incidence rates of cervical cancer than white women. ²
• Out of all racial or ethnic groups, African American men have the highest mortality rate for prostate cancer in the US. ²
• Except for stomach cancer rates in African American males, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in both men and women have the highest incidence and deaths rates for liver and stomach cancers of all racial and ethnic groups. ¹
• For American Indian and Alaska Native men and women, the incidence and death rates from kidney cancer are higher than in any other racial or ethnic population. ¹
• Though incidence and death rates among Hispanics are lower than non-Hispanic whites, Hispanic men with stomach cancer are 26% more likely to die within five years after diagnosis than non-Hispanic white men. ³
• Early stage diagnosis for breast cancer is lower in Hispanic women compared to non-Hispanic white women. ³
• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic men and second among Hispanic women. ³

• In 2001, death rates from heart disease were 30% higher for African Americans than for whites.⁸
• In 2001, death rates from stroke were 41% higher for African Americans than among whites.⁸

• Compared to white adults, African American, Hispanic, American Indian, and Alaska Native adults are about twice as likely to have diabetes. ⁵
• American Indians aged 10-19 years old have the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes (nearly 2 in 1,000) in the US. ⁵
• Rates for diabetes are 2.5 times higher among American Indians and more than twice as high among Alaska Natives compared with whites. ⁷
• Pacific Islanders are more than twice as likely as whites to receive a diagnosis of diabetes. ⁷

• In 2006, African American consisted of 49% of all HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed.⁵
• In 2006, of all the US adults living with HIV/AIDS, 47% were African American, 34% white, 17% Hispanic, and less than 1% each were American Indian/Alaska Native or Asian/Pacific Islander. ⁵
• In 2006, of all the US adults living with AIDS, 44% were African American, 35% white, 19% Hispanic, 1% Asian/Pacific Islander, and less than 1% were American Indian/Alaska Native. ⁵

• Among Native Hawaiians, infant mortality is nearly 60% higher than rates among whites.⁸
• African American infants are more than twice as high to die in infancy compared to non-Hispanic white infants.⁹

Endnotes

¹ American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2008. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2008, available online at http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/2008CAFFfinalsecured.pdf

² American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2007-2008, Atlanta, Georgia, available online at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/stt_0_2007.asp?sitearea=STT&level=1

³ American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures for Hispanics 2006-2008, Atlanta, Georgia, available online at http://www.cancer.org/docroot/STT/stt_0_2007.asp?sitearea=STT&level=1

⁴ American Lung Association, Lung Disease Data in Currently Diverse Communities: 2007 (New York: American Lung Association, 2007), available online at http://www.lungusa.org/site/c.dvLUK9O0E/b.313456/k.6348/RacialEthnic_Differences.htm

⁵ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diabetes, Disabling Disease to Double by 2050: At a Glance 2008 (Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Available online at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/AAG/ddt.htm

⁵ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2006. Vol. 18. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2008, available online at http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/reports/2006report/commentary.htm

⁷ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National diabetes fact sheet: general information and national estimates on diabetes in the United States, 2007. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2008, available online at http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DDTSTRS/FactSheet.aspx

⁸ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 2010: Addressing Disparities in Health, At a Glance 2008 (Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007), available online at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/publications/aag/reach.htm

⁹ Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2005), available online at http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/index.asp