Past Events

2005         

2006          2006 Partners & Sponsors          2006 Symposium Photo/Video Room

2007          2007 Symposium Photo Show

CACHE’s 4th Annual Health Symposium (2007)

Carolinas Association for Community Health Equity Presents

Defining the Disparities Dilemma: A focus on HIV/AIDS in at risk populations 

Statistics and Facts

• In the United States, the HIV/ AIDS epidemic is a health crisis for African Americans 

• Race and ethnicity, by themselves are not risk factors for HIV infection.

• African Americans make up 12% of US population however African Americans accounted for 49% of new HIV/AIDS diagnosis.

• The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American adults/adolescents is 10 times the rate for whites and 3 times the rate for Hispanics.

• The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American women is 24 times the rate for white women.

• The rate of AIDS diagnoses for African American men is 8 times the rate for white men.

• HIV/AIDS disproportionately affect African Americans and Hispanics.

• African American youth, ages 13-24, account for 55% of all HIV infections reported.

• African American children represent 71 of all pediatric AIDS cases.

• In North Carolina 77% of AIDS cases reported are female.

CACHE’s 3^rd Annual Health Symposium (2006)
Presented by CACHE, Presbyterian HealthCare and Carolinas Healthcare System

Purpose: To address disproportionately negative healthcare outcomes for African and Latin Americans in Charlotte Mecklenburg

Theme: Minority Health:  Defining the Disparity Dilemma

Focus: Diabetes and related disorders

Goals:

1.  To increase awareness of and provide an understanding of the factors contributing to healthcare disparities in diabetes case outcomes within minority populations.

2. To provide a forum to facilitate a better understanding of the need for preventive modalities, and the importance of early detection and initiation of treatment programs in diabetes.

3. To foster dialogue that will educate minorities on how to more efficiently access and navigate our healthcare systems.

4.  To facilitate the development of more effective strategic partnerships between the Carolinas Association for Community Health Equity (CACHE) and other organizations to create processes to eradicate health care disparities among at-risk populations. 

5. To obtain funding to support the mission of CACHE and its programs.

Speakers: Sam Dagogo-Jack, MD – Professor of Medicine, University of Tennessee College of Medicine.

Special Guest: Vivian Maddox PhD. Assistant Director National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda MD.

Diabetes Facts in Racial and Ethnic Minorities

• African Americans are from 1.4 to 2.2 times more likely to have diabetes than Caucasian Americans.

• The prevalence of diabetes among American Indians is 2.8 times the overall rate.

• Asian and Pacific Islander communities (Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, and Korean Americans) all have higher prevalence for diabetes than communities of Caucasian Americans.

• Diabetes is more dangerous for African-American women, for whom it was the third leading cause of death for all ages.

• Hispanic Americans have a higher prevalence of diabetes than non-Hispanic people.

OTHER COMPLICATIONS DUE TO DIABETES

• Kidney Disease

• Eye Disease

• Amputation

• Coronary Artery Disease

CACHE’s 2^nd Annual Health Symposium (2005)
Presented by CACHE, Presbyterian Hospital, Carolinas Medical Center and Pfizer

Theme: Minority Health:  Defining the Disparity Dilemma

Goals: To increase awareness of healthcare disparities; to facilitate prevention and early detection of disease; and to aid minorities in better understanding the healthcare system  

Speakers: James Gavin, MD, PhD (keynote), Emory University School of Medicine, Representative Mel Watt

Focus: Cancer and its devastating impact on minorities

Emcee: Vince Coakley, WSOC-TV

Cancer Disparity to be Focus of Health Symposium for Minorities
African Americans, Latinos and Native American Indians are less likely to be diagnosed with cancer at an early enough stage to benefit from treatment and African American men are 20 percent more likely to get cancer than Caucasian men.  The cancer death rate is 40 percent higher for African American men than for Caucasian men.  African American women are 20 percent more likely to die from cancer than are Caucasian women.  Native American women have the lowest cancer survival rates of all.   

The devastating impact of cancer on minority populations—and the disparity in health care treatment and outcomes that makes that impact worse—is the focus of a health symposium that was held in Charlotte.  Minority Health: Defining the Disparity Dilemma took place at the Charlotte Convention Center on Thursday, October 20, 2005. 

The 2002 Institute of Medicine report, “Unequal Treatment,” says that “(al)though myriad sources contribute to these disparities, some evidence suggests that bias, prejudice, and stereotyping on the part of healthcare providers may contribute to differences in care.”

James R. Gavin, III, MD, PhD, Clinical Professor of Medicine from the Emory University School of Medicine was the keynote speaker.  The symposium’s goal was to increase awareness of the disparities in health care outcomes that exist for minorities.  Another goal was to help professionals and the public better understand the factors that contribute to the inequality of treatment and outcomes.  By providing a forum to focus on prevention, early detection, and early treatment, the symposium hopes to improve dialogue among professionals and public education on improving access to healthcare.

The symposium is presented in cooperation with the Carolinas Association for Community Health Equity, Inc. (CACHE), a non-profit organization focused on health disparities in the greater Mecklenburg County region.  CACHE partners include many health care provider organizations, governmental and non-profit agencies.  Committed sponsors for this year’s endeavor to date include Carolinas Medical Center, Presbyterian Hospital, Mecklenburg County Medical Society and Pfeiffer University.

The 2004 health symposium focused on heart disease.  Over 600 people attended the 2004 program.  That event raised $15,000 to benefit Physicians Reach Out, a program which serves uninsured and low-income residents of Mecklenburg County. An additional $15,000 was donated to free medical clinics in Mecklenburg County.