Friday, April 07, 2000
Minority health fair addresses barriers
BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Be it concerns about asthma or the uninsured, Cincinnati residents aren't as healthy as the economy seems to be. That goes double for the city's African-American residents.
“We have unparalleled prosperity and unparalleled low unemployment. Yet in the face of that we have unparalleled numbers of people without health insurance,” said Cincinnati Health Commissioner Malcolm Adcock.
His comments on the state of health care in Cincinnati came Thursday during a Community Health Issues Update, a four-hour minority-focused health fair in Bond Hill. The event was broadcast live to an estimated 50,000 listeners of WCIN radio.
Cincinnati faces ongoing problems with high cancer rates, especially smoking-related lung cancer, Dr. Adcock said. Childhood asthma and childhood diabetes are rising concerns even as the medical “safety net” to help low-income people deal with these and other chronic health prob lems continues to fray.
City Council recently approved pumping more than $2 million into the city health clinic system to cover losses stemming from an otherwise successful welfare reform effort in Ohio.
As people leave welfare, many also are losing their Medicaid health coverage, Dr. Adcock said. As a result, city clinics have seen their percentage of uninsured patients soaring from 57 percent in 1995 to 71 percent in 1998.
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IF YOU GO
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“Back on Track in 2000,” a health festival sponsored primarily by the Ohio Commission on Minority Health, begins at 9 a.m. April 15 at the Melrose YMCA, 2840 Melrose Ave., Walnut Hills.
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All these problems strike harder among African-Americans than many other groups, said Councilwoman Alicia Reece. Yet too often, African-Americans either don't know about or won't seek help.
The goal of the health fair was to break through some of that. While a few dozen people stopped by Integrity Hall to pick up brochures from more than 15 health agencies, the radio broadcast allowed thousands more to pick up information and phone numbers from the privacy of their homes, offices or cars.
That eventually may help reduce the disparities in death rates for common diseases among whites and blacks.
Ms. Reece organized much of Thursday's event, continuing an emphasis on health care issues that traces back to health problems in her own family.
Four years ago, her mother, Barbara, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. It was a shock to see the woman who taught her to roller skate as a child forced to depend on a wheelchair to get around, Ms. Reece said.
Now, Ms. Reece seeks to fill the role held for many years by former Councilwom an Bobbie Sterne as council's leading voice on health issues.
From firsthand experience, Ms. Reece talked about the hassles small-business owners face with health insurers, and of the value of support groups.
“We can bring in every corporation in the world, we can fix every street in town; but if people aren't healthy, all of that is in vain,” Ms. Reece said.
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