HEALTH DISPARITIES BLOG

December 02, 2009

links for 2009-12-02

• Cuyahoga health officials urge blacks, who are less apt to get shots, to get H1N1 vaccine
  Dr. Daryl Thornton, a MetroHealth Medical Center pulmonologist who is involved with reducing racial health disparities, said misperceptions and mistrust are behind blacks' reluctance to be vaccinated.
  (tags: vaccinations, H1N1, African Americans, Daryl Thornton)
• NIH Partners with Washington, D.C., Health Department on Study Designed ...
  The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has partnered with the Washington, D.C., Department of Health to launch a study that seeks to determine whether aggressive treatment for HIV could eradicate AIDS, the Washington Post reports.
• USDA Proposes Increasing Meal Reimbursement for Schools That Serve Healthy Food
  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has proposed offering higher reimbursement rates to schools that serve healthy foods, Reuters reports. Child nutrition programs, including the National School Lunch and Breakfast programs, are slated for reauthorization early next year, and lawmakers are expected to focus their reform efforts on improving the nutritional quality of school meals as a way to help prevent childhood obesity. The school meal programs serve almost 40 million meals per day and account for "more than half [of] students' food intake during the school day." Under the current system, schools receive $2.88 in cash and USDA-provided food for each lunch served for free to students. The USDA proposal would increase that rate, by an amount to be determined, for schools providing more fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
  (tags: school nutrition, nutrition)
• Preventive Care Gaps Send Blacks To Hospital Earlier Than Whites
  African-Americans with preventable conditions often fail to get adequate care, resulting in hospitalizations years earlier than whites with the same conditions, results from a new study suggest.