It's become widely known that major health disparities exist among the nation's minority communities, including higher rates of certain cancers, high blood pressure and diabetes, and poorer access to medical insurance and disease screenings.
Yet with all of the statistics pouring out of labs around the country, until now, there has never been a meeting in which scientists and those in the disparities field could come together to share findings and collaborate on future projects.
Today, thousands of scientists, health care workers and policymakers, among others, are convening at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, just outside Washington, D.C., for the first government-sponsored scientific summit on minority health and health disparities.
"This is the Academy Awards of health disparities," says John Ruffin, director of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD), the National Institutes of Health center that coordinated the "Science of Eliminating Health Disparities" summit.
He says one reason the summit has been a long time coming is because every one of NIH's 27 institutes and centers has scientists involved in disparities research, making for a very decentralized group.
Ruffin says registration has exceeded his expectations, topping more than 3,800.
A sampling of the research being presented over the three-day conference includes:
*A study of the role of church pastors in health disparity research.
*Why black dialysis patients are less likely than white patients to be evaluated and listed for kidney transplants.
*An overview of barriers to colonoscopy screenings by African Americans.
*How social support in response to racial discrimination can ward off stress and depression.
*Obstacles to offering counseling to Latina and African-American teen mothers.
*Ethnic and gender disparities in cyberbullying.
Former surgeon general David Satcher, the first African American to hold the post, says the meeting has been long overdue, and it has professional as well as personal meaning for him.
"I'm excited about this summit. We've all been struggling to get this going, but we're to the point where we want to hear from each other, share ideas. We have an opportunity to move forward," Satcher says.
For some attendees, it's a chance to be heard. Physician Jeff Henderson, director of the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health in Rapid City, S.D., will be one of the first speakers.
"Tribes have the challenges of profound rurality. I think the perspective I'm going to share will enlighten people," says Henderson, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe.
To see more of USAToday.com, or to subscribe, go to http://www.usatoday.com
??? Copyright 2007 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.