The African-American cancer crisis, Part II: A prescription.
To appreciate the causes of the African-American cancer crisis, contemporary myths and perceptual gaps regarding cancer in blacks must be analyzed and placed in historical context. Since ancient times, racism has permeated western scientific, medical, and social cultures. Yet contemporary analysts typically frame a 370-year-old African-American health deficit in nonracial terms, and ignore both the metamorphosis of racism and the impact of racism on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer; exposure to cancer-causing industrial pollutants; educational opportunities for black health professionals and policymakers, and other factors. If the African-American cancer crisis is to be halted, the growing divergence between urgent needs and meager resources devoted to preventing, detecting, and treating cancer in blacks must be sharply reversed.
Byrd
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WM
Dept. of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115.
Clayton
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LA
D000349:Africa; D001741:Black or African American / Q000266:history* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D044383:Black People; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D005060:Europe; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000266:history*; D049668:History, 15th Century; D049669:History, 16th Century; D049670:History, 17th Century; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D008489:Medical Indigency; D009313:National Health Programs; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history*; D011203:Poverty; D011287:Prejudice; D011634:Public Health / Q000266:history*; D012109:Research Support as Topic / Q000266:history; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States