#46. Listening to the CDC

Located in Atlanta, Georgia, the Center for Disease Control and and Prevention (CDC) has one purpose:

"It works to protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health decisions, and it promotes health through partnerships with state health departments and other organizations. The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease prevention and control (especially infectious diseases), environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, prevention and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States."

With the stated goal of working to draw national attention to infectious diseases, the CDC does a valuable service in collecting information on current trends in the spreading of infectious disease and in providing this data in hopes of helping people make healthy decisions that will effect their standard of living.

With the fear of epidemics spreading across the country griping America in state of paralysis, the CDC is naturally at the forefront in educating the various races that comprise the citizenry of this nation what to expect in the case of an outbreak:

"Autopsies show that the H1N1 swine flu virus can cause deep, fatal lung infections rarely seen in seasonal flu but common with the deadly avian strain, experts reported today.

• 90% of those killed by the virus had an underlying condition that made them susceptible to serious diseases.

• The median age was 38. A 2-month-old victim died a day after becoming ill.

• 46% were obese; 27% had heart disease; 22% had asthma, and many had fatty liver disease.

Uh-oh. The reality of swine flu - which is said could kill millions this season - is that those who are already sick and obese from passing on seconds, could be more susceptible to the disease.

And those who already have health problems exhibit a clear cut disdain for listening to the CDC, which is merely trying to stop epidemics from spreading throughout the country.

The group in question for disregarding the heroic data the CDC compiles is Black people, as we are about to embark on a tour of the many diseases that strike the Black community and stalk Black people with the ferocity of Ahab after his great white whale.

Listening to the CDC's advice when it comes to practicing safe sex seems simple enough, but Black people find it extremely difficult:

"Race and ethnicity in the United States are risk markers that correlate with other more fundamental determinants of health status such as poverty, access to quality health care, health care seeking behavior, illicit drug use, and living in communities with high prevalence of STDs."

In 2007, approximately 48% of all chlamydia cases occurred among blacks (Table 11A). Overall, the rate of chlamydia among blacks in the United States was more than eight times that among whites. The rate of chlamydia among black women was more than seven times higher than the rate among white women (1,906.0 and 249.3 per 100,000 women, respectively).

In 2007, approximately 70% of the total number of reported cases of gonorrhea occurred among blacks (Table 21A). In 2007, the rate of gonorrhea among blacks was 662.9 cases per 100,000 population. Overall, the rate of gonorrhea among blacks in the United States was 19 times greater than that among whites This disparity is unchanged from recent years (20 times higher in 2003) (Figure Q, Table 21B). This disparity was higher for black men (26.1 times higher) than for black women (14.9 times higher) (Figure R). The disparity in gonorrhea rates for blacks was higher in the Midwest and Northeast (27.2 and 24.8 times higher, respectively) than in the South or the West (15.6 and 12.4 times higher, respectively).

Between 2006 and 2007, the rate of P&S syphilis among blacks increased 25.0% (from 11.2 to 14.0). In 2007, 46.0% of all cases of P&S syphilis reported to CDC were among blacks and 35.3% of all cases were among non-Hispanic whites (Table 33A). Compared to whites, the overall 2007 rate for blacks was 7.0 times higher. It was 5.9 times higher in 2006 (Table 33B). In 2007, the P&S rate among black men was more than 6.0 times higher than that among white men; the rate among black women was 14 times higher than that among white women. In some age groups, particularly 15-19 year old black men, disparities have increased markedly in recent years as rates of disease have increased.

In 2007, the rate of congenital syphilis (based on the mothers race/ethnicity) was 32.3 cases per 100,000 live births among blacks and 15.3 cases per 100,000 live births among Hispanics. These rates are 14 and 6.6 times higher, respectively, than the 2007 rate among whites.

When reading this data, it is important to remember that, not only are we living in a Black world now, but that Black people make up only 13 percent of the US population. Living in a Black world also means disregarding the CDC and the advice the organization it dispenses regarding disease prevention.

It has been argued that reasons for the health disparities between Black people and white is because of worse home conditions and lack of access to medicine, but the rates of asthma for Black people and white people would lead to this idea being discredited, or at least the instances of hospitalization might lead to the theory of over-reacting...

Worse than the rates of STDs that seem to be highly prevalent among Black people, is the rate of HIV/AIDs:

"At least 3 percent of District residents have HIV or AIDS, a total that far surpasses the 1 percent threshold that constitutes a "generalized and severe" epidemic, according to a report scheduled to be released by health officials tomorrow.

That translates into 2,984 residents per every 100,000 over the age of 12 -- or 15,120 -- according to the 2008 epidemiology report by the District's HIV/AIDS office.

"Our rates are higher than West Africa," said Shannon L. Hader, director of the District's HIV/AIDS Administration, who once led the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's work in Zimbabwe. "They're on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya."

Whoops. That was only for Washington DC. Here is the CDC's information for the entire nation as it pertains to Black people and their predilection for acquiring HIV:

• Blacks accounted for 49% of the estimated 35,962 AIDS cases diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia [3].
• In 2007, the rates of AIDS diagnoses decreased among blacks but were still higher than the rates of any other race/ethnicity. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black adults/adolescents were 10 times the rate for whites and nearly 3 times the rate for Hispanics. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black women was 22 times the rate for white women. The rate of AIDS diagnoses for black men was almost 8 times the rate for white men [3].
• Blacks accounted for 44% of the 455,636* people living with AIDS in the 50 states and District of Columbia [3].
• By the end of 2007, 40% of the 562,793* persons with AIDS who died were black

Some people believe that health care access in the United States is not open to Black people, but this idea doesn't need any debunking as Black people love to visit the emergency room and are always treated.

An interesting article was recently published on LewRockwell.com which discussed what to expect from the swine flu, in actual terms of those getting sick:

"Instead of 150 million infected we see 18 million infected. Using these more realistic figures we can estimate a hospitalization rate of 90,000 and a projected death incidence of 5436.

Again, it is important to keep in mind that the infections will be evolving and not all at once as both sets of figures seem to imply. If we spread this over several months and waves of the infection, we see that at any one time the hospitalizations will be a much smaller number, as will the deaths.

Thus far, there have been nationwide 2,000 hospitalizations a month and 99 deaths a month.

Certainly the hospitals in the United States can handle the increase. In the United States we have 5,759 hospitals containing 955,000 beds and 70,000 ICU beds. Most hospitalized people will not require intensive care. Most are suffering from dehydration and only required IV fluid infusion."

There is a great desire now to pass universal health care, which would benefit primarily uninsured Black people, and place the bill for their porous health firmly in the hands of white people. Many agree with this idea:

"From 1987 until 1996, one out of every 5,102 Black women died in childbirth. The number for white women was one out of every 18,868.

This disturbing disparity has remained relatively constant over the past four decades. This particular gap ranks among the highest in U.S. public health. And it comes at a time when the overall infant mortality rate has decreased.

The U.S. health care system is a vital institution riddled with racism. The only concern of this profit-driven industry is to rake in billions of dollars. Health care under capitalism is creating a genocidal crisis for millions of people.

Only a social revolution can assure that health care can be a right for all and not just a privilege for those who can afford it."

Of course, Black people have yet to resort to the "sex with virgins" tactic utilized by Africans in Africa to get rid of AIDS/HIV, but you never know what could happen here in America.

Health care access in America is limited, as we have discussed, and unfairly is not available to Black people:

"Dr. Satcher examined U.S. mortality rates for African Americans and whites between 1960 and 2000. While the infant mortality rate for African Americans improved overall, the black-white gap during those years actually worsened for infants and for African American men age 35 and older. Blacks suffered 40.5 percent more deaths -- 83,570 deaths -- than would have been expected if they were white, according to the study.

...He identified four reasons that contributed to the gap between black and white males: Health care access expansions have consistently excluded nonelderly, nondisabled adult men; black men have not experienced the same improvements in income inequality; there was a spike in gun-related deaths between 1983 and 1995; and the death rate related to HIV infection disproportionately affected communities of color"

Hmm... the four points made can be reduced to not saving money for the future and "no homo"...

Stuff Black People Don't Like sadly includes listening to the CDC, for that organization exists to benefit all Americans and ensure that diseases do not become epidemics. STDs are an epidemic in the Black community and AIDS/HIV is rapidly decimating the 'no homo' Black community, even though Black people do not like gay marriage.

Black people need to listen CDC, because when universal health care passes the white people who pay for it might not let it last for long.