[NYAPRS Enews] Health Disparities Impacting Latinos in New York State

[Matt Canuteson]

NYAPRS Note: This weekend the NYS Assembly released a 26-page report,
titled "Health Disparities Impacting Latinos in New York State." The
report (sponsored by Assemblyman Peter Rivera, chairman of the Assembly
Committee on Mental Health) stated that living and working in "poor
environments" is a major factor driving poor health among Latinos.
Rivera said that although no legislation was immediately planned based
on the study's findings, it will be useful for future policy
formulation. 

Health Risks High For Latinos 

Study's Findings Suggest Poor Working, Living Environments Have Negative
Impact  

By Jimmy Vielkind  Albany Times Union   April 27, 2008 

 

ALBANY -- Hispanic men die from accidents at nearly twice the national
rate for men, and Hispanic women die from diabetes at twice the national
rate for women, according to a study released Saturday in Albany.

And while Latinos as a nationwide group have a relatively good health
profile -- partly due to a young average age and short average length of
stay in the country -- several barriers to effective care persist. Those
include language and cultural barriers that, despite legislation
mandating professional interpreters in hospitals, have proved difficult
to bridge.

"For newcomers, some of the folks who come here don't know the lay of
the system," said Jose Davila, director of government affairs for the
New York Immigration Coalition, who attended a news conference Saturday
near the Capitol, where the report was released. "We need to do more to
close the gaps -- language barriers and sometimes immigration status --
to Latinos and immigrants."

The report was one of the highlights of this weekend's Somos El Futuro
annual conference, a series of legislative forums, lectures and
educational opportunities coordinated by the state Assembly's Puerto
Rican and Hispanic Task Force. The conference is designed for business,
labor and community leaders to find ways to meet needs of the state's
Hispanic communities. It included a reception with Gov. David Paterson,
who was scheduled to make remarks to the gathering Saturday night.

The 26-page report, titled "Health Disparities Impacting Latinos in New
York State," was sponsored by Assemblyman Peter Rivera, chairman of the
Assembly Committee on Mental Health and authored by members of the New
York Latino Research and Resources Network and Hunter College and
Fordham University.

Dr. Carlos Vargas-Ramos, one of the authors, said that living and
working in "poor environments" is a major factor driving poor health
among Latinos.

"Latinos are specifically affected because they tend to work in trades
and professions that do not necessarily provide health insurance in the
typical benefits package," Vargas-Ramos said. "They tend to be
overwhelmingly represented in the construction, agriculture and
hospitality industries, which have a variety of hazards from scaffolding
accidents to handling pesticides."

Rivera said that no legislation was immediately planned based on the
study's findings, but that it will be useful for future policy
formulation. 

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=684146&category=FRONT
PG&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=4/27/2008
<http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=684146&category=FRON
TPG&BCCode=HOME&newsdate=4/27/2008>  

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://kilakwa.net/pipermail/nyaprs_kilakwa.net/attachments/20080428/6ac8e135/attachment.html>