By Tim Bonfield
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COVINGTON - Be it cancer, heart disease, diabetes or AIDS, African-Americans and other minority groups in Greater Cincinnati are dying faster from their illnesses than white residents.

Along the way, minority groups say it is harder for them to get quality health-care services. And when they do get care, they often feel they are not respected.

HEALTH GAPS

Selected local figures on differences between whites and African-Americans on common health concerns. Infant mortality: In Hamilton County, 21 of every 1,000 black babies died in their first year of life in 2000, compared with 6.1 per 1,000 white births. Cancer: In Ohio, the death rate (deaths per 100,000 population) for prostate cancer was 43.8 for black men versus 20.7 for white men. For lung cancer, the death rate was 89.2 in 2000 for black men versus 73.4 for white men. AIDS: In Hamilton, Butler and Clermont counties, the percentage of black men living with HIV/AIDS is nearly five times higher than for whites. The local infection rate among African-American women is 10 times higher than for white women, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

These are some of the health-care gaps that attracted discussions Thursday among more than 900 community leaders, social workers, health experts and others for the first day of a two-day conference at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center.

The "Closing the Gap" conference - the first of its kind in Cincinnati - reflects a new level of local concern about an issue that has been debated nationally since the 1980s. Beyond the conference, local health institutions already have pledged to spend several million dollars to increase efforts to close the gaps.

"This is the unfinished business of the civil rights movement," said Dr. Stephen Thomas, director of the Center for Minority Health at the University of Pittsburgh. "Health care is the one part of our society where people really believe we should be treated for our health problems regardless of our race, religion or economic circumstances."

Too often, people who feel most disconnected from the health-care system are living literally in the shadows of medical centers, Thomas said.

On the national level, studies have documented gaps in disease rates, death rates and access to care among white populations and minority groups, said Dr. Randall Maxey, president of the National Medical Association, a trade group for black doctors.

For example, blacks account for about 15 percent of the American population, but about 40 percent of the people on kidney dialysis machines, which raises questions about the quality of care blacks get for high blood pressure and diabetes.

Poor health and poor health care affecting one part of a city's population can affect an entire community. Poor access to care can allow infectious disease to spread. Undertreated disease can turn taxpayers into people who depend on government support.

In Cincinnati, the Closing the Gap conference reflects a first step, said former Cincinnati mayor Dwight Tillery, who played a leading role in organizing the event.

"What's really significant is the commitment of the health-care industry not just to the conference but to continue to address the issues," Tillery said.

Dr. Jane Henney, the new top health administrator for the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, has made health disparities a priority for research and education.

Not only did the medical center serve as leading sponsor of the conference, the medical college has started seeking grants from a recently formed arm of the National Institutes of Health that focuses on health disparities.

Meanwhile, the Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati has pledged $2 million over 10 years to form a center for health disparities as part of a recent settlement of a lawsuit that challenged the privatization of University Hospital.

In Pittsburgh, a health promotion program formed four years ago has a head start on Cincinnati, including winning a $6 million federal grant to continue its efforts to reach out to minority communities.

So far, efforts have included expanded health screenings in black churches, training barbers how to talk about health issues and putting Internet terminals in beauty salons so customers can learn about health concerns.

The conference itself was a positive sign to Vincent Muhammad, a resident of Deer Park and a local member of the Nation of Islam.

"The conference will motivate people to do more. It helps show that people here have the power to change things in their community," Muhammad said. "(The health-care system) needs to be more connected to the community, and let people know that they will be treated with respect."

E-mail tbonfield@enquirer.com