Who we are
The Office of Minority Health (OMH) was created in 1986 and
is one of the most significant outcomes of the 1985 Secretary’s Task Force
Report on Black and Minority Health. The Office is dedicated to improving the
health status of racial and ethnic minorities, eliminating health disparities,
and achieving health equity in the United States. OMH was reauthorized by the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-148).
Why we were established
Poor health outcomes for African Americans, Hispanic
Americans, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native
Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders are apparent when comparing their health
indicators against those of the rest of the U.S. population. These populations
experience higher rates of illness and death from health conditions such as
heart disease, stroke, specific cancers, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, asthma, hepatitis
B, and overweight and obesity. OMH’s primary responsibility is to improve health
and healthcare outcomes for racial and ethnic minority communities by developing
or advancing policies, programs, and practices that address health care, social,
economic, environmental and other factors which impact health.
Who we do
OMH programs address disease prevention, health promotion, risk
reduction, healthier lifestyle choices, use of health care services, and
barriers to health care. The Office also: (1) promotes the collection of health
data by racial, ethnic, and primary language categories and strengthening
infrastructures for data collection, reporting, and sharing; (2) works to
increase awareness of the major health problems of racial and ethnic minorities
and factors that influence health; (3) establishes and strengthens networks,
coalitions, and partnerships to identify and solve health problems; (4) develops
and promotes policies, programs, and practices to eliminate health disparities
and achieve health equity; (5) fosters research, demonstrations, scientific
investigations, and evaluations aimed at improving health; (6) funds
demonstration programs that can inform health policy and the effectiveness of
strategies for improving health.
How we accomplish our work
OMH works in partnership with communities and
organizations in the public and private sectors. These collaborations support a
systems approach for eliminating health disparities, national planning to
identify priorities, and coordinated responses through focused initiatives. OMH
maintains staff in each of the
10 HHS Regional Offices, and helps build a
network of consumers and professionals working on minority health issues. OMH
provides funding to state offices of minority health, multicultural health, and
health equity; community- and faith-based organizations, institutions of higher
education, tribes and tribal organizations; and other organizations dedicated to
improving health.
National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA)
The purpose of
the NPA is to improve nationwide cohesion and coordination of strategies and
actions to eliminate health disparities and achieve health equity. The NPA has
five goals: (1) increasing awareness of the significance of health disparities;
(2) strengthening leadership at all levels; (3) improving health and healthcare
outcomes; (4) improving cultural and linguistic competency; and (5) improving
data availability, and coordination, utilization, and diffusion of research and
evaluation outcomes.
Visit the NPA website.
A Healthy Baby Begins with You
A Healthy Baby Begins with You is a national campaign to raise awareness about
infant mortality with an emphasis on the African American community. The
campaign seeks to eliminate the widening disparities in birth outcomes that
affect the African American community. The campaign focuses on preconception
health. New campaigns for the Latino and the Native American communities are in
the development phase. OMH’s "Crisis in the Crib" video features work conducted
in Memphis, TN.
Visit the Healthy Baby website.
Cultural and Linguistic Competency
OMH is committed to culturally and
linguistically competent systems that will ensure the needs of minority
communities are integrated and addressed within health-related programs across
the nation. For information on OMH’s portfolio of cultural competency training,
visit thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov.
For further information
Office of Minority Health
Division of Information and Education
1101 Wootton Parkway Suite 600,
Rockville, MD 20852
240-453- 2882 Phone
240-453-2883 Fax
http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov
Division of Information and Education
1101 Wootton Parkway Suite 600,
Rockville, MD 20852
240-453- 2882 Phone
240-453-2883 Fax
http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov