A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT TO APPROPRIATE FUNDS TO THE Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, FOR EFFORTS TO raise awareness about HEALTH DISPARITIES AMONG NORTH CAROLINIANS OF DIFFERENT RACIAL GROUPS.
Whereas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Minority Health, reports compelling evidence indicating that race and ethnicity correlate with persistent, and often increasing, health disparities among U.S. populations; and
Whereas, the United States Department of Health and Human Services has selected the following six focus areas in which racial and ethnic minorities experience serious disparities in health access and outcomes: infant mortality, cancer screening and management, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, HIV Infection/AIDS, and immunizations; and
Whereas, African‑American women are more likely to die of breast cancer than are women of any other racial or ethnic group; and
Whereas, rates of death from diseases of the heart were 29%  higher among African‑American adults than among white adults, and death rates from stroke were 40% higher; and
Whereas, in 2000, American Indians and Alaskan Natives were 2.6 times more likely to have diagnosed diabetes compared with non‑Hispanic whites; African-Americans were 2.0 times more likely, and  Hispanics were 1.9 times more likely; and
Whereas, although African-Americans and Hispanics represented only 26% of the U.S. population in 2001, they accounted for 66% of adult AIDS cases and 82% of pediatric AIDS cases reported in the first half of that year; and
Whereas, in 2001, Hispanics and African-Americans aged 65 and older were less likely than non‑Hispanic whites to report having received influenza and pneumococcal vaccines; and
Whereas, African-American, American Indian, and Puerto Rican infants have higher death rates than white infants; and
Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, eliminating racial and ethnic disparities in health care will require enhanced efforts at preventing disease, promoting health, and delivering appropriate care; and
Whereas, the North Carolina Community‑Focused Eliminating Health Disparities Initiative seeks to close the gaps in health status between African‑American, American Indian, and Hispanic/Latino persons as compared to the health status of white persons; and
Whereas, the General Assembly has experienced the loss through illness of seven of its African‑American members within the last two years, six of whom passed within the last five months; and
Whereas, the loss of these dedicated public servants calls for the State's immediate attention to the causes and effects of health disparities; Now, therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  This act shall be known as the Hall‑Allen‑Hunter‑Holloman‑Lucas‑Martin Health Disparities Reduction Act of 2007.
SECTION 2.  Of the funds appropriated in the Current Operations and Capital Improvement Appropriations Act of 2007 to the Department of Health and Human Services, Division of Public Health, for the Community‑Focused Elimination of Health Disparities Initiative, the sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) in each fiscal year shall be used for concerted efforts to address health disparities among African-American and other minority populations in North Carolina by:
(1)	Instituting a pilot program for nurse practitioners to travel throughout the State to provide routine health care at community centers, high schools, and churches.
(2)	Providing enhanced education and outreach to minority populations on the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart disease, breast cancer, diabetes, obesity, and HIV infection.
(3)	Addressing cultural and communication barriers to quality care by improving interpersonal processes between clinicians and patients.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2007.