Health Disparities in New York City

Much progress has been made in reducing health disparities in New York City, but substantial inequalities remain among New Yorkers of different economic and racial/ethnic groups. ● Poor New Yorkers, as well as African-American and Hispanic New Yorkers, bear a disproportionate burden of illness and premature death. ■ The poorest New Yorkers are 4 times more likely to report poor overall health than the wealthiest. ■ The rate of new HIV diagnoses is about 6 times as high among Blacks as among Whites. ■ Hispanic New Yorkers are more than twice as likely to have diabetes as White New Yorkers. ■ Disparities in diabetes are widening: From 1999–2001, Black New Yorkers were about 3 times as likely to die from diabetes as White New Yorkers. ● Poor health is concentrated in certain New York City neighborhoods.