Fort Valley State University

Peach County’s minority residents receive marginal treatment for health issues such as HIV, diabetes and cancer. Those are the findings of a report released at Fort Valley State University by the Georgia Department of Community Health, Minority Health Advisory Council and Office of Health Improvement. Health care services received by African American and Hispanic residents fall short of the care received by whites, states the OHI’s Health Disparities Report 2008. Peach County received an overall grade of “C” in the inaugural report, which conducted a county-by-county evaluation of health disparities. This week, Middle Georgia community health leaders met to discuss what to do about the discrepancies.

Representatives Fort Valley’s Visions for the Valley, a community-based organization developed to address health disparities along with FVSU, gathered to listen to the report. Members of the Central Cities AIDS Network and the American Cancer Society were also in attendance. The report is the first phase of the Georgia Health Equity Initiative, which is a long-term program targeted at reducing racial inequalities in health care access across the state. The community meetings, like the one in Peach County, are the second phase. FVSU’s Director of Enrollment Management Dr. Myldred Hill worked as a community partner with OHI to organize the community discussion.

According OHI Executive Director James T. Peoples, who presented the official report, the organization found that black-white inequalities in health outcomes caused more African Americans to die before the age of 75. The organization found that minority populations statewide have poorer health and limited access to care. African-American males were diagnosed with AIDS at a rate of 90.8 per 100,000, compared to a rate of 10.3 per 100,000 for white males in 2005. African-American males were also 39 percent more likely to die of cancer than whites. The cancer death rate is 13 percent higher for African-American women.

The next phase to address the discrepancies will be the Georgia Health Equity Grant Program. The fund will help community health organizations – like the American Cancer Society — offer solutions to address the most prevalent health issues among minorities statewide. Grant awards will total $1 million. Peoples encouraged the creation of local health equity coalitions to devise solutions.

The findings of the report are based on social and economic factors such as how many persons fell below the poverty line, mortality rates and quality access to health care.

“The report is not perfect,” said Peoples, “Where there were not enough blacks, in areas such as the Georgia mountains, those counties did not receive a grade.”

At the meeting, Peoples also announced a new round of community grants for a breast cancer program at the meeting. OHI representatives will return to Peach County in two years to reassess health conditions for minorities.