Are Blacks predisposed to major health problems?

Black families can survive if they protect the health of all members. (Photo of Tomi Johnson's maternal family and fiends, circa 1948.)

Yes, Vincent, being Black means you are more likely to be sick and die young if you participate in lifestyles that lead to diseases and don't have good health insurance, according to a major Black medical organization. But the Black family still remains resilient and CAN thrive if the health care of African Americans is made a priority!

A 2010 study in the Journal of the National Medical Association (NMA) suggests that, "African Americans face significant health challenges and disparities relative to other ethnic groups in the United States."

Reasons given for these disparities include limited access to health care services and high morbidity rate involving preventable chronic diseases such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease, and cancer.  The study noted that Blacks in the US suffered 40.5% more deaths  than Caucasians because of health issues, while Black men had a lower life expectancy of 66.1 years when compared to the 73.6 year national average.

"Additionally...high rates of incarceration, unemployment, and low levels of college graduation rates negatively affect quality of life as well as access to health care insurance coverage and quality health care," according to a 2008 report of the Kaiser Family Foundation in Washington, DC.

In light of these dire statistics, however, only the strong survive, and Black people have been surviving for millennium through sheer will power and trust in God.  This is where theology, mind power, the will to live, faith, and perseverance, meets every attempt at genocide.

To read the NMA's full article on this topic, go to http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CFIQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.communityvoices.org%2FLibraries%2FCommunity_Voices_Documents%2FresourceLibrary_mensHealth_JNMAarticle.sflb.ashx&ei=HifST57pJY6Q8wSK1OjnAw&usg=AFQjCNHe7DrtTwUZnXSWbw67j3fTrPtWWQ&sig2=1QUWnkq5lTzSp9NXT3xS_w

©2012 Tomi Johnson. All rights reserved.