Thread: Latina Health Alert

www.plannedparenthood.org

Latina Health Alert

by Estelle Raboni
10.27.05
The need for reproductive justice has never been greater for Latinas in the United States. Latinas fare worse than other populations in various areas of reproductive health: breast and cervical cancer, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS, and teen pregnancy.

In 1998, the rate of gonorrhea for Latinas (69.4 per 100,000) was more than double that for white women (26 per 100,000), and among Latina teens aged 15-to-19, the rate of gonorrhea has reached staggering proportions (251.6 per 100,000).



Worse still, the rate of chlamydia among Latinas has risen to 599 per 100,000 as compared to 161.9 per 100,000 among white women. When chlamydia and gonorrhea are left untreated, they can lead to infertility and life-threatening ectopic pregnancies, which develop outside the uterus, often in a fallopian tube. Chlamydia and gonorrhea, as do certain other sexually transmitted infections, also increase the risk of becoming infected with HIV, leaving Latinas at higher risk for HIV infection.

In response to the severe health disparities affecting Latinas in the United States, the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health (NLIRH) issued an ambitious call to action that identifies seven policy priorities, including


expanding access to health care

demanding culturally competent and linguistically appropriate services

ensuring access to family planning and contraceptive equity

promoting comprehensive sexuality education

protecting and enhancing the reproductive rights of Latinas

fostering a pipeline of Latina/o health professionals

generating accurate and unbiased Latina-focused public health research

Planned Parenthood spoke with Angela Hooton, NLIRH associate director of policy and advocacy, about this health crisis and NLIRH's call to action.

Why did the NLIRH develop the National Latina Agenda for Reproductive Justice?

We couldn't find a centralized location that compiled all the statistics and framed reproductive issues from a Latina perspective. The NLIRH felt that the Agenda would provide a guide not only for our own organization, but also for our coalition partners. It lays out the goals and changes that should be made in order to improve Latinas' reproductive health.

Has the agenda been positively received by health policymakers?

Absolutely. When we initially released it, more than 50 organizations submitted their endorsements to promote its goals.

However, other organizations are unable to partner with us for a variety of reasons. For instance, we submitted the agenda to the U.S. Office of Minority Health and the U.S. Office of Women's Health. Given the current political environment, they're very limited in their ability to talk about reproductive health. Not only are these agencies being downsized â€â€

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