Federal grant acknowledges Hub’s strides in closing racial health care gap
Last week, I announced that Boston has been designated as a Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This will bring millions in federal funds to the city for work focused on heart disease and breast and cervical cancer as they affect black residents.
Boston was one of the first cities in the nation to develop a comprehensive program to eliminate health disparities, and I am proud of the progress we have made. Since the initial report over two years ago, Boston has become a national leader in eliminating disparities. Still, work remains to provide quality health care for all, and this center will help ensure that everyone gets the care they need.
The CDC will be giving the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) Coalition an $850,000 grant in the first year of a five-year award expected to exceed $4 million. The money will be used to provide training, education and technical assistance and support to other New England communities working to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities. It will also support the development of training curricula to educate community health workers about existing disparities in areas such as breast and cervical cancer and cardiovascular disease. In addition, Boston will work with communities across the region to help them establish their own blueprints for eliminating racial and ethnic disparities. This new grant will help us continue our groundbreaking work in eliminating health disparities so everyone in Boston receives quality health care.
I also unveiled new posters for the BPHC’s “Pink & Black” Campaign, developed to raise awareness of how breast cancer affects black women. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and this successful campaign, which was started in 2005, encourages black women to “See your doctor. Get tested. Get treatment.” As a cancer survivor myself, I know the importance of early detection and treatment. The campaign helps raise awareness about the disparities in breast cancer survival faced by black women.
BPHC Medical Director Dr. Nancy Norman said that black women have a higher death rate from breast cancer than any other group. This mortality disparity is especially chilling given the fact that black women in Boston received mammography screening at higher rates than whites.
For more information on the REACH 2010 campaign, please visit
www.bphc.org.
