Too much national focus on Social Security can hamper efforts to find health solutions, says Dr. Louis Sullivan, former U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services.
"Social security is a major issue right now in Congress. It sucks the air out of a room. There's only so much time Congress meets each year, and I'm afraid that Social Security will take up too much valuable time that could be spent on health care concerns," said Sullivan.
Thursday morning was the third Aaron Henry Scholars Lecture Series at Mississippi Valley State University. The lecture series was on minority health disparities.
Among the panelists for the lecture was Dr. Warren Jones, executive director of the Mississippi Medicaid program.
Sullivan was the founding dean and director for the Medical Education Program at Morehouse College in 1975.
In 1981, it became the Morehouse School of Medicine, and Sullivan served as its first president. He served as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under former President George H.W. Bush.
Sullivan elaborated on the United States' great legacy of medicine. In the early 1900s, young physicians who wanted to train as doctors went to Europe for distinction.
"Now, there is a great legacy of medicine here in the United States. People come to our country to study medicine. They can return to their homes and say they studied medicine in New York or Boston or San Francisco," said Sullivan.
"The United States is proud of its heritage of schools, pharmacies and research. These are the areas in which American medicine excels," Sullivan said.
"America has advances in growing information technology which will help maintain records and reduce medical errors.
There are several challenges that America faces with its health care system. Health care is too expensive. In the mid-20th century, health care was five percent of the Gross National Product. Today that percentage represents 20 percent of the GNP," said Sullivan.
"Doctors are not socially ready to meet the needs of their patients. We must have science based practices delivered in social settings," said Sullivan. "Doctors should be knowledgeable in culture, language, habits and beliefs."
Also speaking were Dr. Aaron Shirley, director of community health services with the University of Mississippi Medical Services; Dr. Warren A. Jones, executive director of Mississippi Division of Medicaid; and Dr. M.Njeri Jackson director of the African American Studies Program at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Jones commended Sullivan's speech on personal prevention.
"We want to be the first in Mississippi, but not in hypertension or obesity. Our goal in Medicaid is take all those advances in technology and create a medical home, where the doctors know the patients by name and don't write millions of useless prescriptions," said Jones. "The lobbyists that confront me know the price of everything, but not the value."
Jones was confronted by an audience member who asked him if he was for preventive programs, why was Mississippi pulling money out of anti-tobacco plans.
Jones said he could not comment because the bill was still in legislation. "I can say this. It is important to remember the data on Medicaid care cost played a big role in the tobacco settlement," said Jones.
Shirley spoke on the personal responsibility that each individual has to help the health care system.
"Dr. Sullivan mentioned a lot of great advances with our medical schools and doctors. But what good is that going to do us if we don't pull together? There is a gap in the health care quality between whites and blacks," said Shirley. "No matter how much technology lowers illness levels, there will still be a gap between minorities and whites unless you the audience takes charge. We must educate the people to learn how to lower infant mortality and combat diabetes, obesity and AIDS."
Ellen Reddy came from Lexington to hear the speech. She is a member of Citizens for Quality Education. "This is the first time I've seen Dr. Jones as a person in the context of the black community and I was encouraged. But we have to look at this issue of disparity through the lens of racism," said Reddy.
M.Njeri Jackson was focused on the racial disparity issue. She is currently researching spinal cord injury patients.
"The doctors are just as responsible as the patient when it comes to health issues. We must shift the lens and focus on racism. This issue of health disparity is a lot more complicated and complex than just exercise," said Jackson." I know plenty of people that would like to exercise, but they're afraid of walking in their neighborhood because they might get shot. Let's focus on the conditions of black people."
Dr. Lester C. Newman, the president of MVSU, said, "I think that today went very well. Dr. Jackson added a twist as a social scientist I think. People have to make up their minds, and I think that these lectures give people a chance to do that," said Newman.
Rickey Hill is the Dean of the graduate school at MVSU. He was one of the co-founders of the lecture series.
"We chose the topic of health disparity for this lecture because the Delta region has some of the greatest disparity in this state. I think our role as a public institution is to address these issues because everyday people should be concerned," said Hill.
Veronica Lowe, 36, is a business communication student at MVSU. She said she has personally been a victim of health disparity. "I was dizzy and felt sick and displayed all the symptoms of diabetes. So I went to Greenwood Hospital and had all the tests done and they asked me my family history. A lot of my family had diabetes but they didn't test me for it. That's just incompetence. I feel I'm treated differently because I have Medicaid instead of health insurance," said Lowe.
Sullivan ended with, "Our hope lies in the young audience today. We must extend the pipeline to minorities interested in practicing health care."
