The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides compelling evidence that race and ethnicity correlate with persistent, and often increasing, health disparities. Lack of or inadequate prenatal care, for example, causes many black babies to come into the world weighing less than five pounds. These babes are more likely to suffer health and development problems and die in the first year than larger babies. The black infant mortality rate is almost two and a half times that of white infants. Cardiovascular disease, primarily coronary heart disease and strokes, is the leading cause of death and disability among blacks.
Blacks are also at highest risk of hypertension-induced heart failure.
Cancer disproportionately afflicts black men and women. The proportion of blacks affected by diabetes is approximately 70 percent higher than that of whites. Similarly, the number of new AIDS cases among blacks is greater than the number of new AIDS cases among whites. Health care officials usually argue that disparate health problems are best addressed by removing the barriers people face to high-quality, competent care. There is evidence, for example, that even when access is not an issue, blacks don't avail themselves of health care resources in ways that improve their health or protect against chronic disease.