Just a decade ago the mortality rate for breast cancer victims was the same among African American women as it was for Caucasians.

But a recent report says that’s no longer the case.

Last fall, the Sinai Urban Health Institute found that the mortality rate among black women in Chicago was 68 percent higher than that of their white counterparts.

That’s far higher than the national rate -- and the gap is getting wider.

But the big question facing physicians and policy experts is why?

They’ve formed a citywide task force to investigate the question.
Dr Sarah Gehlert is Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research at the University of Chicago.

She’s a member of the task force and recently conducted a series of focus groups with African American women on Chicago’s south side.

Dr David Ansell is the Chief Medical Officer at Rush Medical Center in Chicago.

He’s a co-author of the Sinai study and a leading member of the task force.

And he says to understand the gap in mortality rates now, you have to understand mortality rates in the past.

For more information on the Sinai study and the city task force, visit http://www.sinaiurbanhealthinstitute.org.

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