Recently, I read a story about how screening rates for the sexually transmitted disease chlamydia are significantly higher in the United States among young black and Hispanic women than among young white women, which might explain why black and Hispanic women have higher reported rates of the disease.
The article, suggested that these racial differences between infection rates and screenings rates are not an isolated occurrence:
"For some common conditions like breast cancer, white women are more likely to receive a screening test like mammography," the study's first author, Dr. Sarah E. Wiehe, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, said in a university news release. "For chlamydia infections -- which are highly stigmatized STDs -- white women are less likely, while minority women are more likely, to receive screening," she noted."
I thought that this was interesting as it suggests that the so-called infection rate statistics may have less to do with the actual frequency of infection among a particular racial group but more to do with a provider of a health service itself.
It got me thinking about an interview I had done a while back (like a year ago) with Brian Robinson and Emanuel Stanley, founding members of the Tuskegee North Advocacy Group, or TNAG, a non-profit organization established to education folks about what they feel was the willful negligence in the reporting of STDs infection rates within in the black community.
In October 2009, TNAG filed a lawsuit (under Tuskegee North Advocacy Group of Delaware Valley) in federal court against The Center for Disease Control (CDC), the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Public Health Management Corporation and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, alleging civil rights violations for not telling patients that they had been infected with gonorrhea, syphilis and other sexual transmitted diseases. The patients, alleged TNAG, were from mostly the African American community in Philadelphia - hence the Tuskegee [syphilis experiment] reference.
The article, suggested that these racial differences between infection rates and screenings rates are not an isolated occurrence:
"For some common conditions like breast cancer, white women are more likely to receive a screening test like mammography," the study's first author, Dr. Sarah E. Wiehe, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the Indiana University School of Medicine, said in a university news release. "For chlamydia infections -- which are highly stigmatized STDs -- white women are less likely, while minority women are more likely, to receive screening," she noted."
I thought that this was interesting as it suggests that the so-called infection rate statistics may have less to do with the actual frequency of infection among a particular racial group but more to do with a provider of a health service itself.
It got me thinking about an interview I had done a while back (like a year ago) with Brian Robinson and Emanuel Stanley, founding members of the Tuskegee North Advocacy Group, or TNAG, a non-profit organization established to education folks about what they feel was the willful negligence in the reporting of STDs infection rates within in the black community.
In October 2009, TNAG filed a lawsuit (under Tuskegee North Advocacy Group of Delaware Valley) in federal court against The Center for Disease Control (CDC), the City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Public Health Management Corporation and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania, alleging civil rights violations for not telling patients that they had been infected with gonorrhea, syphilis and other sexual transmitted diseases. The patients, alleged TNAG, were from mostly the African American community in Philadelphia - hence the Tuskegee [syphilis experiment] reference.
Originally, I had hope to air their interview on a show I used to produce on G-Town Radio. However, because of timing issues (meaning my lack thereof), I never had an opportunity to do so.
But recently, I spoke to Emanuel Stanley member of TNAG, who updated me on the lawsuit. He said that the case against the CDC, the city's Department of Public Health, Planned Parenthood and Public Health Management Corporations, had been dismissed in Spring 2010 based on a filing technicality. However, Stanley and Brian Robinson, two of the original plaintiffs in the case, would be filing a new lawsuit under their real names, as oppose to TNAG organization.
Check out the interview I did with Brian Robinson and Emanuel Stanley, shortly after they filed the lawsuit. The audio is kind of messy, mainly because I was recording while driving and doing housework (my cat makes a brief appearance at 19 minutes in), but it's definitely audible. Also note that no attempts were made to get an official response from none of the defendants of this former lawsuit. And that any conclusions draw on your part are strictly on your own free will (in other words, don't hold me to nothing):
But recently, I spoke to Emanuel Stanley member of TNAG, who updated me on the lawsuit. He said that the case against the CDC, the city's Department of Public Health, Planned Parenthood and Public Health Management Corporations, had been dismissed in Spring 2010 based on a filing technicality. However, Stanley and Brian Robinson, two of the original plaintiffs in the case, would be filing a new lawsuit under their real names, as oppose to TNAG organization.
Check out the interview I did with Brian Robinson and Emanuel Stanley, shortly after they filed the lawsuit. The audio is kind of messy, mainly because I was recording while driving and doing housework (my cat makes a brief appearance at 19 minutes in), but it's definitely audible. Also note that no attempts were made to get an official response from none of the defendants of this former lawsuit. And that any conclusions draw on your part are strictly on your own free will (in other words, don't hold me to nothing):
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