GA minorities suffer big health disparities

A new report concludes that Georgia's minorities suffer significantly worse health than non-minority citizens, with the report awarding an "F" to 16 Georgia counties on scores of minority care. The grades, which were issued by the state's Department of Community Health, reflect the serious differences found in death rates before age 75. (Another report, by the United health Foundation, ranked Georgia 40th in health status overall, with African-Americans there experiencing 44 percent more premature deaths than whites.) 

The disparities come, in part, from structural problems faced by the state's healthcare system as a whole. Of the state's 159 counties, 118 are rural, and have roughly half as many doctors per capita as, say, metro Atlanta, in addition to major shortages of nurses, therapists and nutritionists, the report said. However, minorities generally seem to face bigger obstacles to getting care than non-minority citizens.

To learn more about Georgia's health disparities:
- read this Atlanta Journal-Constitution article
- read this Community Health press release

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