MIAMI (AP) - Health care disparities between Hispanics and whites, brought on by the absence of health insurance, the language barrier and other factors, are gaining attention among advocates who focused on the problems at this week's National Council of La Raza meeting.

La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights group, held at least one workshop a day on combatting problems including high breast cancer rates, early diabetes and the spread of AIDS, then devoted an entire afternoon to health issues. The annual meeting ended Wednesday.

"We're able to evidence in black and white this gap, this disparity, between the Hispanic and non-Hispanic population," said Carlos Ugarte, La Raza's deputy vice president for health. "This is a reality. There's no denying it. We have to work toward changing it."

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics from 1999, the most recent available, spell out the differences between Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics are 1.7 times more likely to die of cancer, 1.4 times more likely to die of coronary heart disease and more than four times more likely to be diagnosed with AIDS.

The National Institutes of Health is conducting more research to identify disparities and what works in reducing them, said Nathan Stinson, a deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"When we look back, historically, at the improvements in the health of everyone, there have been great strides," Stinson said.

But with minorities and certain diseases, the situation is just "abysmal," he added. "That, in our view, becomes a real drag on the vitality of this nation."

One reason the disparities exist is because more Hispanics lack health insurance. About 35 percent of Hispanics younger than age 65 did not have health insurance in 2000, compared with 13 percent of non-Hispanic whites, according to CDC statistics.

Some Hispanics work in the service industry and construction, where health insurance may not be offered, said Yanira Cruz, director of La Raza's Institute for Hispanic Health. Another problem is the lack of Spanish-language information and doctors who speak Spanish, she said.

With a clinic located three blocks from the United States-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, Salvador Balcorta of the Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe, said ethnic health disparities can be particularly bad in regions like his.

"We still have the Third World diseases on the border with real high rates of hepatitis A, tuberculosis, things that the rest of the country at times think they're not in danger of," said Balcorta, executive director of the community health center.

Compounding the problem is a shortage of doctors and clinics in El Paso, he said. He thinks medical students should be offered an incentive: in exchange for working in a medically underserved area, they could receive help paying their medical school loans.

Hispanics also need to push for schools with health-related programs to admit more Latinos, he said.

Jovenes por la Salud, or Youth for Health is working to solve that problem. The East Los Angeles program, which enrolls about 260 students a year, encourages high school students to pursue careers in health care.

It provides tutoring in science and math courses, brings in doctors, nurses, pharmacists and physical therapists to speak to students and takes teens on field trips to universities in southern California. About 90 percent of the students graduate from high school and most choose to study biology, science or health in college.

"When you have professional staff in the medical health profession who are bilingual, and understand the culture the patients are coming from, they are able to communicate better with the patients," said Carlos Venegas, educational coordinator at the Multicultural Area Health Education Center, which runs the program.

Mindful of Hispanic health care concerns, Maria Huapaya pushed a stroller carrying her children — a 4-year-old and a 5-month-old — through the conference's health fair, hoping to get her cholesterol tested.

"I have two kids," said the 35-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Fla. resident who is originally from Puerto Rico. "I want to live long to see them grow."

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On the Web:

La Raza: http://www.nclr.org

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