October 03, 2008
Health disparities in Erie PA
From GoErie.com:
In 2000, the study reported, Erie County's population was 93.6 percent caucasian, 6.1 percent black and 2.2 percent Hispanic. Yet the poverty rate for children under 18 was 46.6 percent for the black population, compared with 11.4 percent for whites. Erie County's poverty rate for children was higher than both the Pennsylvania and national rates.
The percentage of births to single women and to teens (including young teens) in the black community in Erie was also considerably higher when compared with the majority population. The percentage of females who received prenatal care was lower for black women than for whites in Erie County. The mortality rate for black babies was also higher compared to white babies.
Those statistics pointed to a gap in health care from the very start of life.