NMA Colloquium Focused on Best Practices and Health Disparities

3/24/2004

From: Reese Stone of the National Medical Association, 202-207-1553

WASHINGTON, March 25 -- The National Medical Association (NMA) concluded its Fifth National Colloquium on African American Health, featuring presentations on diseases disproportionately affecting African Americans, including HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, lupus, diabetes, and cancer. The Colloquium also focused on the economic survival of the black physician and a legislative agenda aimed at attacking and eliminating health disparities based on race and ethnicity.

The colloquium convened March 12-16, 2004 in Fairfax, Va., and attracted physicians, medical researchers and policymakers from across the nation who examined the health status of African Americans and adopted recommendations for improvement.

Several Colloquium presentations focused on approaches aimed at reducing health disparities among African Americans, such as launching aggressive public education campaigns, and providing broader access to medical care. "It is critical that we employ effective solutions to deal with the crisis in African-American health and implement a national minority health policy agenda," said NMA President and Colloquium Chair Randall Maxey, M.D. "Too many people are suffering needlessly and dying prematurely."

At this year's colloquium, a major topic of discussion centered on the National Healthcare Disparities Report originally issued in December 2003 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The HHS report has been criticized for downplaying the problem of disparities, a position voiced by many colloquium attendees.

During her presentation about the HHS report, Helen Burstin, M.D. of AHRQ noted that the original executive summary for the report, which was reviewed by Colloquium attendees, more accurately reflected the extent of health disparities and their negative impact on African Americans and other ethnic groups. She also indicated that HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson has committed to re-issue the report in response to concerns that the pervasive problem of disparities was not adequately addressed.

The best practices presentation on cardiovascular disease highlighted the troubling and continual pattern of excessively high death rates among black Americans, particularly out-of- hospital deaths, and deaths occurring at younger ages. The presentation indicated that African Americans have the highest overall mortality rate from coronary heart disease of any ethnic group, accounting for 33.5 percent of deaths in men and 40 percent of deaths in women each year. Heart failure is more common in African Americans than in the general population (3 percent versus 2 percent) and is associated with a higher incidence of hypertension. The presentation cited several contributing factors for the high mortality rate, including delays in the treatment of high-risk individuals, limited access to cardiovascular care, and lower quality of care when it is administered. Among its recommendations, the presentation proposed that public information campaigns target cardiac risk factors and emphasize the importance of behavior modification in eliminating cardiac disparities among blacks.

In addition to the best practices presentation on cardiovascular disease, reports and panel presentations were given on lupus, diabetes and cancer (specifically, prostate, breast, colon, and lung). A special presentation was also made on the Howard University Human Genome Project. Other presenters included Luther Clark, M. D., Valentine Burroughs, M.D., Purnell Kirkland, M.D., Wilbert C. Jordan, M.D., Wilma Wooten M.D. and Edith Mitchell, M.D. from the NMA; Michael Painter, M.D., Health Policy Fellow to Senator Bill Frist; Michelle McMurry, M.D., health policy advisor to Senator Joseph Lieberman; Doris Brown, M.D., National Cancer Institute; and Georgia Dunston, Ph.D., director, Howard University Human Genome Project; and the Honorable Mary Coleman, President, National Black Caucus of State Legislators.

The keynote speaker at the colloquium's Saturday awards dinner was Reed Tuckson, senior vice president of United Health Group. Dr. Tuckson challenged attending physicians to become even more accountable in their health care delivery decision-making and to do a better job of looking at the medical evidence relevant to a particular patient in determining appropriate care. He also called upon the insurance industry to offer benefit packages based on actual health statistics and data gleaned from science and research. The NMA Award recipients included: Nathan Stinson, M.D., director, Office of Minority Health, HHS (Louis Stoke Health Policy Award); Larry Lucas, associate vice president, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (President's Award); Robert Mallet, senior vice president, Pfizer Corporate Affairs (Corporate Award); and Joseph L. Webster, M.D., a Tallahassee physician (Community Advocate Award).

The NMA has sponsored the annual colloquium since 1999 as a national forum for physicians, health care leaders, and legislators to develop and advocate policy initiatives aimed at reducing health disparities. Previous Colloquium themes have dealt with issues related to racism in medicine, increasing the numbers of African American physicians, and developing collaborative partnerships with health advocacy groups.

The colloquium concluded with a visit to Capitol Hill, where members of the National Medical Association conveyed specific concerns and a legislative agenda to members of the House of Representatives and the United States Senate.

Editors: Photos supporting this release are available. Please contact Reese Stone of the National Medical Association at 202-207-1553.