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BROOKLYN CENTER ON HEALTH DISPARITIES SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON UNEQUAL CARE AND LACK OF HEALTH INSURANCE

Photographs by Laura Geiser

Cardiovascular Disease focus of day-long symposium

“Brooklyn is home to one-quarter of the uninsured residents in New York State, but Brooklyn does not get its fair share of health care dollars to respond to the areas of highest need,” said Deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham. “Those in government who might be inclined to provide political leadership on this issue are stymied by a federal administration bent on destroying the last remnants of America’s social safety net. Today we are living with the results of one more instance where the majority in Congress and a radical right-wing president are simply ignoring the overwhelming will of the majority on an issue of vital importance to nearly everyone – the need for universal health coverage.

“This is a disgrace, and a source of deep frustration to many, including those of us who concern ourselves with the well-being of our communities. However, we must not let our resolve to be undermined by our frustration. And because we do know that the majority of Americans want universal health coverage, I remain hopeful,” she said.

The new Brooklyn Center on Health Disparities (BCHD) held its first symposium May 26, which focused on how to decrease cardiovascular disease in Brooklyn’s most at-risk communities. The center was founded last year by the Brooklyn Borough President’s office in collaboration with SUNY Downstate and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health to address the fact that residents of large areas of Brooklyn have six or more health indicators that are at least 50 percent worse than those of New York City residents as a whole. The Brooklyn areas with the worst health disparities were identified in a 2003 study commissioned by the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office and carried out by graduate students at the Milano School of Urban Policy at the New School. The areas include the neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, East Flatbush, Flatbush, East New York, Williamsburg and Bushwick.

“We believe that the historic rise in economic and cultural activity in Brooklyn today can only be considered a success if it is matched by a corresponding decrease in the number of uninsured residents, and the elimination of Brooklyn’s status as a capital of cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, obesity, infant mortality, and other serious health problems,” said Ms. Graham, explaining the impetus for founding the center.

The symposium will featured a series of panel discussions on best practices, with an emphasis on serving culturally diverse populations. Panelists included Deputy Borough President Graham, Paul Underwood, MD, president, Association of Black Cardiologists; John LaRosa, MD, president, SUNY Downstate; Luther Clark, M.D. and Ruth Browne, ScD, MPH, co-principal investigators for the Brooklyn Center on Health Disparities; Marcia Bayne-Smith, PhD, chair, Caribbean Women’s Health Association, and a number of other public health and cardiac care specialists. Here, Ms. Graham speaks at the symposium.