Discovering the Full Spectrum of Cardiovascular Disease: Minority Health Summit 2003: Executive Summary

Discovering the Full Spectrum of Cardiovascular Disease: Minority Health Summit 2003: Executive Summary -- Yancy et al. 111 (10): 1339 -- Circulation
Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the
most shocking and inhumane. —Martin Luther King, Jr
The American Heart Association (AHA) has a stated goal
of achieving a 25% reduction in coronary heart disease,
stroke, and the risk for these diseases by 2010, with a specific
emphasis on people who are at highest risk. To meet this goal,
best practices in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment need to
be applied broadly to the US population. That population is
now described by a remarkably changing demographic profile.
During the past several decades, the US population has
become much more ethnically diverse than it once was. The
current representation of non-Hispanic whites in this country
has declined to 67% and is expected to be at 60% in another
decade, and perhaps as low as 50% by the middle of the
twenty-first century.1 According to the US Census Bureau,
the most populous state, California, no longer has a single
majority population. Hispanics now represent 14% to 15% of
the US population. The Hispanic segment is not only the
largest minority population but also the fastest growing
segment of the US population. People of predominantly
African descent represent another 12% of the US population,
and people of Asian descent and Native Americans constitute
the remainder of the population.2 If there is to be a meaningful
impact on death and disability resulting from heart disease
and stroke in the United States, then the diversity of the US
demographic must be considered.