Rep. Hilda L. Solis: Battling Health Disparities — A Call to Action

“Access to quality health care services is particularly difficult for these communities — especially the 42 million Latinos living in the United States. Diseases like diabetes, obesity, asthma and cancer are registering in the Latino community at two to three times that of non-Latino communities. Mexican-Americans are twice as likely to have diabetes and six times more likely to suffer from complications such as kidney failure. Although Latinos only represent 14 percent of the U.S. population, they represent one-fifth of all people living with AIDS. Latina women account for more than 23 percent of all new HIV infections. More than 70 percent of African Americans and Latinos live in counties that violate federal air pollution standards, compared to 58% of whites, leading to higher rates of asthma and mortality.”

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