Through Dorris Eyes:
With March 31 as the deadline for the nation to sign-up for health care, the government and private medical firms are working trying to snag and reel in the procrastinators to attach the late comers to their company while the government just want the nation’s citizens to just register.
The health coverage for each individual is important. Having recently experienced more than 15 years of family members being ill, care givers began to establish baseline knowledge about the medical system. Yes, there are many short comings, but the knowledge of those requiring the need for such services are even greater. The public heath sector of our government need to do a better job of engaging the health consumer public on several factors:
1. prevention- identify 20 of the most common health problems and then specific spell out the ways that could possibly be prevented.
2. Warning Signs for specific medical problems and
3. Care tips for identified common health problems.
As the clock ticks on the Affordable Health Care Act registration, citizens are facing penalties if they do not self-enroll so that they will not uninsured. The minority community is not the focus of the nationwide push to get people signed-up. Special focus is on the Texas Latino community. In Texas it is estimated that there are 3.5 million Hispanics who are uninsured.
Nationally, 32 percent of Latinos are uninsured and 16 percent of the non-Latinos.
Health disparities are serious enough for all citizens to stop and focus. For these health disparites leads to illness and death. The access and use of health care services can reduce our exposure to risks. One’s behavior and also reduce the risk factors for disease along with environmental hazards and social determinants according to 2012 Center for Disease Report.
The identification of diseases and risk factors are essential to the improvement of one’s health for knowledge is power. The 2013 CDC report on Disparities Examined states that the latest report looks at disparities in deaths and illness, use of health care, behavioral risk factors for disease, environmental hazards, and social determinants of health at the national level.
This year’s report contains 10 new topics including activity limitations due to chronic diseases, asthma attacks, fatal and nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses, health-related quality of life, periodontitis in adults, residential proximity to major highways, tuberculosis, access to healthier foods, and unemployment.
Report Supports National Disparities Elimination Efforts: The information provided in the report is of vital importance in achieving the goals of Healthy People 2020 and the National Partnership for Action (NPA) to End Health Disparities .
CDC’s report also complements the annual National Healthcare Disparities Report and the periodicreports related to Healthy People 2020. When we review the report and learn, we will become more excited about why each of us is in need of health care.
May God bless and I will see you next week.