Filed Under: [ Health ] [ Hispanic News ] [ Press Releases ] [ Pennsylvania ]
Tags: insurance, outreach, population
HispanicTips has 43,068 stories & 115,000+ visitors a month.
Check out today's 11 stories - Knowledge is Power!
“To improve the health of Pennsylvania’s Latinos, March has been declared Latino Health Month.
“The Latino community is a young one that, unfortunately, lags behind the general population in income, education, wealth and employment. Some of these socio-demographic indicators correlate to problems related to health care services,” said Norman Bristol-Colon, executive director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs, or GACLA.
It is estimated that nearly 25 percent of Latinos in Pennsylvania lack health insurance. In addition, numerous studies highlight health disparities
in minority populations, especially the Latino community.“Pennsylvania has its share of problems with health disparities and addressing these disparities has to be a top priority,” Bristol-Colon said. “These problems will not go away by themselves if we don’t start to look at what can be done within the health care system.”
In 2005, GACLA and the Department of Health sponsored the first Latino Health Summit to address issues impacting the health of Latinos in Pennsylvania. Participants looked at a number of issues, including access to care/culturally competent care; awareness/prevention/education & outreach; data collection, advocacy and accountability; and capacity building/infrastructure.
Also, the summit provided a forum for stakeholders to develop policy-based recommendations on key issues impacting the health and health status of Latinos in Pennsylvania.
As a result of this summit, Pennsylvania will continue working on the following issues to ensure Latinos have equal access to health care:
— Monitoring progress on the recommendations made during the health summit; — Partnering with state agencies, the private sector, community-based organizations and the medical/health care community to address health issues that affect Latinos in Pennsylvania; and — Ensuring the private and public sector work together to drive policy and regulatory changes to achieve better health care among the Latino population.
A report summarizing the recommendations proposed at the end of the summit by representatives from each track will be available on GACLA’s Web site: www.gacla.state.pa.us/.
The Governor’s Advisory Commission on Latino Affairs is the commonwealth’s governmental agency responsible for addressing issues impacting Pennsylvania’s Latino population before the executive and legislative branches of government. Since its inception in 1971, GACLA’s mission has been to ensure that the Latino community is afforded the opportunity to continue to prosper in Pennsylvania.
CONTACT: Norman Bristol-Colon
(717) 783-1116 “
Stumble it! |
|
Other posts that may interest you
Hispanic PR Wire - Pennsylvania Health Leaders Partner on Unique Latino Health Initiative
State booklet in Spanish raises ire of local couple. Pennsylvania
Weekly roundups of the news in 10 Hispanic & Latino categories - trying something new
Latino voting gets push in Pennsylvania and New Jersey
NHMA, HHS Office of Minority Health to Tackle Health Disparities, Obesity and Diabetes Among Latinos
Pennsylvania to study at-risk Hispanic youths - Lancaster County
Hispanic Unemployment Increases to 6.9%--153,000 More Hispanic Unemployed in March
Second Pennsylvania Summit on Educational Excellence for Latino Students is Held; Students Honored
