Those who belong to ethnic minorities are more likely to contract preventable diseases than whites, according to a study by the Utah Department of Health.
Utah's blacks are contracting AIDS at a higher rate than other racial groups, while Asians and Pacific Islanders suffer more tuberculosis and American Indian mothers are the least likely to receive early prenatal care, the study showed."It's discrimination," said Fredrick R. Woolley, head of epidemiology, biostatistics and prevention research at the University of Utah's school of medicine.
"We discriminate against the poor, among whom minorities are over-represented . . . and that is one of the great tragedies that our society lets it happen."
Roughly half of American Indians, one-third of blacks, one-quarter of Latinos and one-fifth of Asian-Pacific Island children live below the poverty line, compared to 11 percent of whites, according to the report.
Those living in poverty are less likely to have adequate housing, proper immunization and health insurance and do not have equal access to health care, Woolley and other medical experts said. Many low-income youths drop out of school, smoke and drink. Others get involved in violent crime.
"They are living moment to moment," says Catherine Schumacher, whose office compiled the study. "If the future looks so bad, why worry about it? Education and income are the basic operators here. They have a bigger impact than race."
Researchers also discovered that more than a quarter of minority mothers receive no prenatal care during their first trimester, compared to 14 percent of whites.
And Utah minorities are five to 15 times more likely to develop tuberculosis than whites. Most cases occur in recent immigrants.
Many low-income members of minority groups "wait until they are desperately ill to seek treatment," Woolley said. "By that time, they require the most expensive care."
Death is not color blind either.
Utah blacks and American Indians are the most likely to die young. And nearly one in four American Indians will die before age 65, the 22-page study said.
State officials urge caution in analyzing their findings. At 150,000, Utah's minority population is so small that a random increase in the number of deaths can skew statistics.
To help balance the figures, statisticians averaged three years of data, 1989 through 1991, for most of the report.