While the diversity
of the American population is one of the Nation’s greatest assets,
one of its greatest challenges is reducing the profound disparity
in health status of America’s racial and ethnic minorities, Appalachian
residents, and other health disparity populations, compared to the
population as a whole. And although some of the causes of disparate
health outcomes, such as differences in access to care, are beyond
the scope of biomedical and bio-behavioral research, the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) can play a vital role in addressing and
easing health disparities involving cancer, diabetes, infant mortality,
AIDS, cardiovascular illnesses, and many other diseases. Accordingly,
the NIH has made health disparities a priority.
The NIH is also
seeking to improve the visibility of minority health disparities
research and other health disparities research as well as expand
the role of such research in learning why some groups have disproportionately
high rates of disease. Toward that end, new legislation authorized
the establishment of the National Center on Minority Health and
Health Disparities (NCMHD) within the NIH. In addition to awarding
grants and contracts independently, the Center continues the legacy
of the former NIH Office of Research on Minority Health in partnering
with the NIH Institutes and Centers to support programs of health
disparities research with a focus on basic and clinical research,
training, and the dissemination of health information. In particular,
the NCMHD will serve as the focal point for coordinating and focusing
the minority health disparities research and other health disparities
research programs at the NIH into a national health research agenda.
The specific goals and purposes of the Center include the following:
-
To assist in the development of an integrated national health
research agenda, across disciplines, that reflects the current
and emerging health needs of racial and ethnic minorities and
other health disparity groups.
-
To promote and facilitate the creation of a robust minority
health research environment with sustained funding for a wide
breadth of studies-- basic, clinical, and population research;
studies on the influences of health processes; and research
on the societal, cultural, and environmental dimensions of health--all
aimed at identifying potential risk factors for disparate health
outcomes.
-
To promote, assist, and support research capacity building activities
in the minority and medically underserved communities, focusing
on research infrastructure development, faculty career development,
and increasing the number of underrepresented minority students
and students from health disparity groups with an interest in
careers in biomedical and bio-behavioral research.
|