More than four hundred people registered for today’s event at Morgan State University, Student Center in Baltimore. Conference participants exchanged strategies for optimizing minority health care delivery and health outcomes during times of economic restructuring. 

"This conference is a valuable tool for improving the health care of every Maryland family, especially given the current state of the national economy," said DHMH Secretary John M. Colmers. "In times like these, it is intolerable to permit continued inequalities in health outcomes. Eradication of these disparities will lead to more affordable, quality health care for all.”    

Dr. Mohammad N. Akhter, Executive Director of the National Medical Association delivered the keynote address. Mr. John M. Colmers, DHMH Secretary, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings, Dr. Earl S. Richardson, President of Morgan State University, Dr. Allan S. Noonan, Dean of the School of Community Health and Policy at Morgan State University, and Delegate Shirley Nathan-Pulliam provided remarks as well. 

The conference featured a series of distinguished panel presentations including health literacy strategies to improve minority health decision making; community-based interventions to support culturally appropriate health care as well as cost savings; and the establishment of patient-center medical homes to lead to better health outcomes and the coordination of care for minority populations. 

In Maryland, conditions such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS impact the State’s ethnic communities at a higher rate than others, creating health disparities. These populations include African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Asian Americans and Native Americans. 

This is the sixth consecutive year that the Maryland Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities has hosted a state-wide conference to allow health departments, other government agencies, legislators, health providers, the business and insurance industry as well as communities to come together and collaborate on ways to ensure health equity among all Maryland citizens. 

For more information on the conference, visit the MHHD Website at www.mdhealthdisparities.org.