VCU to host daylong conference about health disparities in Virginia

By Michael Ford
University News Services

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Commonwealth University is bringing together educators, health care professionals and researchers to discuss why some minority citizens have a lower health status than other groups and devise solutions aimed at overcoming recognized health disparities.

"Overcoming Health Disparities: A Disease-Focused Approach" is a daylong conference, 7 a.m. - 5 p.m., Friday, June 11 at the Holiday Inn Select Koger South Conference Center, 1021 Koger Center Boulevard, Richmond.  It will feature faculty presenters from VCU, the University of Virginia, Ohio State University, Howard University, the National Institutes of Health and health offices from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Participants will contrast Virginia health disparities with federal data and ultimately search for solutions to health disparities in Virginia using available resources and new systems that may need to be developed.

"This is a potential partnership between government, higher education and the public to attack specific health disparities issues. Virginians are uniting, at a grass roots level," said Wally Smith, M.D., conference chair and chair of VCU's Division of Quality Health Care. "We want this discussion to result in some changes in state health policy and have assembled a fine cadre of health care professionals, researchers and government leaders to begin that."

The U.S. Health Resource Services Administration recognizes health disparities - population specific differences in the presence of disease, health outcomes or access to care - and has evidence that certain groups receive less complete and less intensive health care. According to HRSA, populations can experience health disparities based on race or ethnicity, age, income or geographic location.

Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Dr. Louis Sullivan will give the keynote address, via video conference, focusing on the federal legislation targeting the six leading diseases afflicting minorities and the strategies aimed at improving the health of America's minority and ethnic communities.

The VCU sponsored conference will use breakout sessions to focus on those common disease killers including infant mortality, diabetes, cardiovascular and cardiorenal disease, cancer, HIV and sexually transmitted disease and obesity.

Dr. Sidney McNairy, director of the NIH National Center for Research Resources, the Honorable Jane H. Woods, Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources and Dr. Belle S. Whelan, Virginia Secretary of Education are among the panelists.

Notable VCU faculty include Dr. Linda Meloy, chair of general pediatrics, nationally recognized expert Dr. Dominic Sica, chair of clinical pharmacology and hypertension, and Dr. Diane Wilson, the Division of Quality Health Care and VCU's Massey Cancer Center. Dr. Sheldon Retchin, VCU vice president for health sciences, Dr. Roderick McDavis, VCU provost for academic affairs and Dr. Marsha Torr, vice president for research are also contributors.

For more information visit www.apps.som.vcu.edu/cme/documents/MCA000610104.pdf to view the program brochure, which may be printed and the completed registration may be faxed to 804/828-7438.  For more information call the VCU Office of Continuing Medical Education at 804/828-5414 or visit www.cme.vcu.edu.