THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

               PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES NEW RACIAL AND
                  ETHNIC HEALTH DISPARITIES INITIATIVE

                             February 21, 1998

Today, President Clinton announced a new initiative that sets a national goal of eliminating by the year 2010, longstanding disparities in health status that affect racial and ethnic minority groups. The President announced that the Federal government will, for the first time, set high national health goals for all Americans, ending a practice of separate, lower goals for racial and ethnic minorities. To help reach these ambitious targets, the President also announced a five-step plan to mobilize the resources and expertise of the Federal government, the private sector, and local communities to eliminate disparities that for too long have been treated as intractable.

BUILDING ON THE RECORD OF IMPROVEMENTS IN HEALTH STATUS FOR ALL AMERICANS. Since 1993, key indicators show that our nation's health has greatly improved. The President highlighted the fact that infant mortality has reached an all-time low, childhood immunization levels are at record highs, and HIV and AIDS rates are falling for the first time in the history of the epidemic.

RECOGNIZING AND CONDEMNING UNACCEPTABLE RACIAL AND ETHNIC HEALTH DISPARITIES THAT EXIST TODAY. Despite some encouraging news, the President condemned the fact that minorities suffer from certain diseases at up to five times the rate of white Americans. For example, infant mortality rates are 2 1/2 times higher for African-Americans and 1 1/2 times higher for Native Americans. African-American men under 65 suffer from prostate cancer at nearly twice the rate of whites; Vietnamese women suffer from cervical cancer at nearly five times the rate of whites; and Latinos have two to three times the rate of stomach cancer. African-American men also suffer from heart disease at nearly twice the rate of whites. Native Americans suffer from diabetes at nearly three times the average rate, while African-Americans suffer 70 percent higher rates than white Americans.

MOBILIZING ALL AMERICANS TO CLOSE GAPS IN HEALTH STATUS. To close these gaps, the President today announced a five-step plan that sets a national goal of eliminating health disparities in six areas by the year 2010: infant mortality; cancer screening and management; cardiovascular disease; diabetes; HIV/AIDS rates; and child and adult immunization levels. The President's plan:

• Initiates Sweeping New Outreach Campaign Led by the Newly-Confirmed Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health, Dr. David Satcher. The President is announcing that the Department of Health and Human Services will initiate a major outreach campaign led by Surgeon General Satcher that will send critical treatment and prevention messages to all Americans, with a special focus on reaching racial and ethnic minorities. This campaign will reach out to local communities, churches, nurses, physicians, and other community-based programs and experts in minority health. It will improve education and outreach efforts and develop innovative strategies to address racial and ethnic health disparities.
• Includes Over $400 Million to Develop New Approaches and to Build on Existing Successes to Address Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

        Spurs New, Local, Innovative Strategies to Address Disparities.
        Seriously addressing racial and ethnic disparities in health 
        will require not only the focused application of existing 
        knowledge and best practices, but the development of new 
        approaches.  The President's budget proposes a total of $150 
        million over five years for grants to up to 30 communities, 
        chosen through a competitive grant process.  These grants will 
        be used to conduct research to devise innovative new strategies 
        to improve minority health status.  Successful approaches 
        learned in these communities will be applied to all health 
        programs across the Department of Health and Human Services.

        Builds on Approaches That Have Proven Successful at Addressing
        Racial and Health Disparities.  The President's balanced budget
        proposes a new $250 million investment over five years that 
        would strengthen public health programs that have a proven 
        record of effectively targeting these problems.  These 
        proposals include new investments in prostate cancer screening 
        education, diabetes outreach and education, breast and cervical 
        cancer screening for Native Americans, heart disease awareness 
        programs, and HIV prevention.  It also includes new funding for 
        community health centers that serve historically underserved 
        populations to make special efforts to target them.

• Announces a Major New Foundation/Public Sector Collaboration to Address Disparities. Addressing these serious disparities will take a nationwide effort involving the public and private sectors. The President is announcing today that Grantmakers in Health, an association of over 136 national, regional, and local foundations with over $42 billion in assets, will team up with the Department of Health and Human Services to co-host a national conference this spring. This conference will be dedicated to help coordinate public and private research, demonstrations and evaluations on racial disparities in health.
• Develops More Effective Ways to Target Existing Federal Programs to Address Health Disparities. The Secretary of Health and Human Services will convene a new taskforce which will bring together the best minds at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and other public health and science agencies, to develop a comprehensive plan in consultation with experts and minority communities. The plan will ensure, for example, that the latest scientific discoveries about SIDS are transmitted to State Medicaid and Children's Health Programs, and that research, treatment, and education programs for diabetes and heart disease are interconnected and that successful demonstrations are converted to nationwide programs.
• Issues National Challenge to Involve Communities, Foundations, Advocacy Organizations, and Businesses to Develop Ways to Target Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities. The President issued a challenge to employers, churches, schools, community-based clinics, nurses, and doctors to make a new commitment to address these racial and ethnic disparities in health. This includes developing new ways to target families to ensure their children are immunized and developing new strategies to make individuals feel more comfortable getting the preventive care they need.

Historic National Health Goals. Using the expertise gained from all of these activities, HHS will join forces with public health groups, medical professionals, minority organizations, and the private sector to develop the first-ever, across-the-board national health goals. These new goals will be included in Healthy People 2010 -- a program that sets the nation's health goals to be accomplished by 2010.