Did You Know?

Public Health

80% of women believe the decision about when and how often to get a mammogram should be left up to a woman and her doctor, not the government. However, when told such a policy might result in many insurers choosing not to cover mammograms, support for government guidelines jumps to 72%. (CBS News poll, 1997)

Latino children’s risk of measles is three times greater than that of black children. (American College of Physicians)

In 1989 and 1990 foreign-born residents of the United States were twice as likely as US-born residents to be uninsured (26.2% vs 13.0%). The highest rate of uninsured status (40.8%) was found among foreign-born Hispanics. (American Journal of Public Health)

Fifty-seven percent of the uninsured in 1994 were in families headed by full-year, full-time workers, and 8.2 percent lived with families headed by full-year, part-time workers. (Employee Benefits Research Institute)

African American men are 10 times more likely to die from hypertension than white men, and 45% more likely to develop lung cancer. African Americans are also significantly more at risk to suffer cancer of the prostate, breast, colon, pancreas, esophagus, cervix and stomach. (American College of Physicians)

Cancer deaths increased 10% among Native Americans between 1973 and 1990, compared to a four percent increase among the general population. Native Americans have the lowest cancer survival rates of any race in the nation. (State University of New York, Buffalo)