Elimination of Health Disparities

Health disparities are differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and burden of diseases that exist among variously defined populations. Health disparities may refer to morbidity and mortality differences in specific race and minority groups and occur by geographic region, gender or age.

In 2002, a Texas Department of Health Services (DSHS) report entitled Health Disparities in Texas: An Epidemilogic Review of Priority Health Outcomes (http://www.tdh.state.tx.us/minority/pubs/Disp_all.PDF) identified nine priority health areas for Texas from which to begin developing an evidence-based strategic plan to eliminate disparities. The nine areas listed below represent health outcomes or issues among race-ethnic or regional groups in Texas (and the underlined priority health areas are known to be strongly associated with the Texas-Mexico border region):

• Infant mortality
• Cancer
• Cardiovascular disease
• HIV/AIDS
• Immunizations
• Diabetes
• Neural tube birth defects (NTDS)
• Tuberculosis
• Access to health care

The Texas-Mexico border is approximately 85% Hispanic and, therefore, one expects to find health disparities related generally to Hispanics (i.e., diabetes) as well as those uniquely attributable to the border geographic region (i.e., nural tube defects). There is a need to formulate goals, objectives, and specific actions to address and eliminate health disparities along the Texas-Mexico border.

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