Why is it importance to increase the number of minorities in the health professions?

High rates of illness among the population and poor access to health care don’t just burden society, they also drive economic costs higher. A major contributor to the rise is the gap in health status known to exist between ethnic minorities and other groups, health researchers say.

One way to help reduce inequities in health and save health care dollars is to increase the proportion of ethnic minorities in the health professions workforce, and, in so doing, provide more culturally sensitive care, said Louis Sullivan, M.D., a former secretary of the U.S. Department Health and Human Services. Sullivan gave the keynote address at the Diversity Dialogue and Student Symposium on Health Professions held recently at the University of Florida Health Science Center.

The U.S. spends trillions on health care each year, reaching $2.5 trillion in 2009, according to an analysis in the public policy journal Health Affairs. A large fraction of that is attributable to health inequities, experts say. For example, from 2003 to 2006, health inequities accounted for $1 trillion in indirect costs associated with illness and premature deaths, according to a study commissioned by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

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