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Sonja S. Hutchins, MD, DrPH, Kevin Fiscella, MD, MPH, Robert S. Levine, MD, Danielle C. Ompad, PhD and Marian McDonald, DrPH

Sonja S. Hutchins is with the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, Office of the Chief of Public Health Practice, and Marian McDonald is with the National Center for Preparedness, Detection, and Control of Infectious Diseases, CDC, Atlanta, GA. Kevin Fiscella is with the Departments of Family Medicine and Community and Preventive Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, NY. Robert S. Levine is with the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, TN. Danielle C. Ompad is with the Center for Urban Epidemiological Studies, New York Academy of Medicine, New York City.

Correspondence: Correspondence should be sent to Sonja S. Hutchins, MD, MPH, DrPH, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities, Office of the Chief of Public Health Practice, Office of the Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Mailstop E-67, Atlanta, GA 30333 (e-mail: ssh1{at}cdc.gov). Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking on the "Reprints/Eprints" link.

Racial/ethnic minority populations experience worse health outcomes than do other groups during and after disasters.

Evidence for a differential impact from pandemic influenza includes both higher rates of underlying health conditions in minority populations, increasing their risk of influenza-related complications, and larger socioeconomic (e.g., access to health care), cultural, educational, and linguistic barriers to adoption of pandemic interventions.

Implementation of pandemic interventions could be optimized by (1) culturally competent preparedness and response that address specific needs of racial/ethnic minority populations, (2) improvements in public health and community health safety net systems, (3) social policies that minimize economic burdens and improve compliance with isolation and quarantine, and (4) relevant, practical, and culturally and linguistically tailored communications.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. S. Hutchins, B. I. Truman, T. L. Merlin, and S. C. Redd Protecting Vulnerable Populations From Pandemic Influenza in the United States: A Strategic Imperative Am J Public Health, October 1, 2009; 99(S2): S243 - S248. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]