University Times

Almost a year after the initial release of the Pitt-produced "Black Papers on African American Health in Allegheny County," the health disparities that they report still make for shocking reading — even for the researchers who documented them.

A few examples:

* For every 1,000 live births in Allegheny County during 1999, 19 black babies died, compared with six white babies.

* In Allegheny County, three times as many black women ages 44-54 and black men ages 35-44 die of heart disease than whites of the same ages. Similarly, three times as many black men ages 65-74 die of prostate cancer than white men in the same age range.

* The rate of nonfatal firearm injuries among black males in Allegheny County is 30 times (and the fatal rate is 15 times) the "Healthy People 2010" goals set by the federal government.

* Diabetes death rates for black males and females here are two times white rates.

* Chlamydia is the most common sexually transmitted disease among Allegheny County residents, with African American males being 42 times more likely to be reported as having chlamydia than white males, and black females 22 times more likely than white females to be reported as having the disease.

African American females ages 15-19 and 20-24 have the highest reported rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea among all racial and age groups in the county.

"Even for those of us who knew about these problems before we collected these data, the numbers are shocking," said Ralph Bangs, research associate in Pitt's University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR), during a Nov. 18 news conference to announce the publication of a book comprising the three "Black Papers" on the health status of local African Americans. UCSUR produced the papers for the Urban League of Pittsburgh, Inc.

"What really strikes us [researchers] about these findings?" echoed Kenneth Thompson, Pitt associate professor of psychiatry and Soros Foundation Physician Advocate Fellow. "It's findings such as the fact that blacks in Allegheny County are dying of diabetes at twice the rate of whites. And, as we all know, diabetes is out of control even among whites in this county."

Deaths represent a tiny proportion of the full cost of diabetes, Thompson added. "The loss of limbs, illnesses, hospitalizations — in many cases, involving adults in the prime of their lives — these things have a devastating affect on families," he said.

Esther L. Bush, president and CEO of the Urban League of Pittsburgh, Inc., said her organization is sending copies of the collected "Black Papers" to state and local elected officials, hospital boards and health care providers. "We want people to be informed as they make, literally, life-and-death decisions," she said.

Most of the research that went into the "Black Papers" pre-dated Sept. 11, 2001. But the federal government's fight against biological terrorism has not diverted public health money from combating community-based problems, according to Bruce Dixon, director of the Allegheny County Health Department.

"There's been a temporary re-focusing, but I think the funding is about the same," Dixon said, although he noted: "There is still an absolute shortage of funds to deal with many public health issues."

Efforts to improve America's public health infrastructure in the wake of 9/11/01 "will help us all," said Stephen Thomas, Philip Hallen Professor of Community Health and Social Justice and director of Pitt's Center for Minority Health.

"At the same time," Thomas added, "look what happened during the anthrax attacks. Black postal workers very clearly felt that they were treated differently than people on Capitol Hill. We need to recognize that, in the name of homeland security, we must do this very work [called for in the "Black Papers"] to increase the number of credible, trusted sources of health information in the black community."

Thomas and his colleagues from the Center for Minority Health have been recruiting barbers, beauticians, church leaders and others in Pittsburgh's African American community to serve as such information sources.

The "Black Papers" are available on the UCSUR web site at: (click on publications).

— Bruce Steele