Minority health office pushed

Legislation to add Nevada's name to the list of states with a minority health department could become a reality during this legislative session.

Senate Bill 4, which would create a minority health division within the state Department of Human Resources, is sitting in the Senate Finance Committee awaiting action. Because it will require taxpayer money, the bill is exempt from a deadline and could be one of the last matters considered before the Legislature recesses on May 31.

Originally, the program was budgeted to receive $355,409 for fiscal year 1999-2000 and another $324,272 for fiscal year 2000-01. But on Feb. 9 the budgets were dramatically reduced. Now, the program has been earmarked to get $70,412 for fiscal year 1999-2000 and $83,817 for fiscal year 2000-01.

The minority health department would provide a central source of information for minority groups to receive advice on available health services, speak out on behalf of minority members, work to improve the quality of health care services in communities, issue educational materials and provide bilingual communication materials.

There are currently 34 states with minority health care departments.

Carla Freeman, a health educator with the Clark County Health District, is a member of the Southern Nevada Steering Committee that was formed to sponsor SB4. She agreed that more needs to be done to help minorities in Nevada, but she questioned whether much can be achieved with such limited funds.

"Locally, we don't have any data on why these people aren't being reached," Freeman said. "We haven't analyzed the outreach (programs) to see why they aren't getting to minorities."

Freeman said the minority health department will need a staff of at least 10 people to collect and assess data, improve programs and create new ones.

She feels the small budget will only be able to sustain an administrator, secretary and program director.

According to the State of Nevada HIV/AIDS Epidemiological Profile report, there were 111.8 black, 38.7 Hispanic and only 25.0 white cases per 100,000 population with AIDS in 1997.

The Nevada State Health Division reported that teenage pregnancies per 1,000 population in 1998 also were higher for minorities. Blacks had 94, Hispanics 121, Asian and Pacific Island 44 and American Indian 64. White teen births were only 37 per 1,000 population.

The state reported that Hispanic, black and Indian women also were the least likely to receive prenatal care in the first trimester of their pregnancies.

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