Equality in the 1990s would have saved 900 000 black Americans

Eliminating racial inequality in health care in the United States would have saved the lives of almost 900 000 black people from 1991 to 2000, says a report published in the American Journal of Public Health (2004;94: 2078-81). Equality of care would have saved five times the number of lives saved by new technologies and treatments, the investigators say.

Health officials talk about the impact of HIV and heart disease on black people during a briefing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta

Credit: JOHN AMIS/AP

The study used information …