What is the health status of Latinos?
A. The Latino community faces a number of significant health challenges and disparities. Hispanic health is often shaped by factors such as lack of health insurance, language/cultural barriers, and lack of access to preventive care. Data indicate that, as of 2002, heart disease is the leading cause of death for all Latinos (24%), followed by cancer (20%), unintentional injuries (8%), cerebrovascular disease (6%), and diabetes (5%). Other health conditions and risk factors that significantly affect Hispanics are asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, HIV/AIDS, obesity, suicide, and liver disease. The 2005 National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR), a comprehensive overview of disparities in health care in the U.S. among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups, found that while disparities in access were becoming smaller for other racial and ethnic groups, Hispanics had worse access to care than non-Hispanic Whites for 88% of the core measures used in the report. By virtually
