Health disparities group pushing for equality in immunizations

(TriceEdneyWire.com) — A working group of Black leaders is calling on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to expand the recommendations for the bacterial meningitis vaccine to include infants as young as six months old.

Former Congressmen J.C. Watts, Jr., and Ron Dellums along with National Medical Association President Michael A. LeNoir, M.D. are leading a newly formed Health Disparities Working Group that’s asking the CDC to take action on the vaccine at its next meeting October 23, according to a news release.

“We are excited about the strength of the working group and our first project which is focused on advocating for an expanded vaccinations recommendation that would help to ensure low-income and minority communities are not disadvantaged in access to quality medical care,” said Dr. LeNoir in the statement.

Dellums adds, “We are concerned about the ‘vaccine gap’ in this country, which allows more affluent communities to receive important immunizations that are largely inaccessible to low-income and minority communities, and contributes to the growing health disparities,” Congress­man Watts said. “We believe adding the bacterial meningitis vaccine to the recommended list for infants will help ensure that low-income and minority communities that rely on federal and state vaccination programs will have access to this life-saving medication.”

Current Working Group members include Millicent Gorham, executive director for the National Office of the National Black Nurses Association; Wade Hen­der­son, President and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund; Dr. Gary Puckrein, president and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum; Daraka Satcher, president of the Satcher Group and Hilary Shelton, executive director of Government Affairs for the NAACP.

The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was scheduled to meet last week to consider recommending the bacterial meningitis vaccine for children as young as six months old. Adding the vaccine to the routine immunization schedule will ensure that it will be included in the federal Vaccines for Children program, which provides approximately 82 million vaccines to 40 million low-income children each year. The recommendation will also improve vaccine coverage among private insurers and devote resources to education about the disease.

“A failure by ACIP to recommend the bacterial meningitis vaccine for children will perpetuate the disproportionately high rates of amenable morbidity and mortality associated with this disease in underserved populations throughout the country. We urge ACIP to be decisive and proactive in protecting the health and futures of all of America’s children,” said Dr. Puckrein.

Bacterial meningitis, while rare, is a deadly disease that kills approximately 500 people each year. The first symptoms are often similar to a cold or flu, but in hours the bacteria can attack the body, leaving those who survive with lost limbs, learning disabilities and hearing loss. The African-American community is at greater risk for bacterial meningitis because many low-income Black families face key risk factors, including over-crowding, underlying illnesses and tobacco use.

One of the Working Group’s projects is to raise awareness about the growing disparity in health for low-income and minority families in the United States, which the National Institute of Health recently labeled as one of the nation’s greatest challenges. A recent CDC report found large racial, ethnic and income disparities in preventable hospitalizations, where Blacks experience a rate more than double that of whites. Preventable incidents account for more than one million hospitalizations each year, at a cost of more than $6.7 billion annually.

The Working Group will work on a myriad of issues facing low-income and minority communities, including the so-called “vaccine gap.” The NIH has identified access to vaccines as a major factor in curbing health disparities. Studies have found that minorities are more likely to not receive immunizations because of limited access to preventative health­ care and lack of education on the importance of regular vaccinations.

According to the release, Watts, Dellums and LeNoir will serve as co-chairs of the Working Group. During his time in Congress, Watts was a strong advocate for health disparities, working closely with Congresswoman Donna Christensen to make April National Minority Health Month. Dellums was a staunch supporter of programs to end infectious diseases during his more than four-decade career in public service. President Clinton appointed Dellums to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS in 1999. LeNoiris has been an active member of the NMA for 30 years. His other leadership roles with NMA include speaker of the House of Delegates, trustee, and chair of Region VI and chair of the Pediatric, Community Medicine and Allergy sections.

This article originally published in the October 28, 2013 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.