July is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to bring awareness to the unique struggles and mental health disparities that affect minority racial and ethnic groups in the United States. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), one in five adults in the United States experience mental illness. During National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month 2018 you can encourage your family, friends, loved ones and clients to learn more about improving mental health and illness. Click here to learn more.

According to the Centers on Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 65,000 new cases of viral hepatitis are reported each year. In the United States, the most common types of viral hepatitis are Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, and Hepatitis C. On July 28, 2018, we celebrate World Hepatitis Day to bring the world together under a single theme to raise awareness about viral hepatitis and to influence change. This year’s campaign will focus on finding the millions of people who have contracted viral hepatitis and have no knowledge that they have been infected with the disease. 

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 1999-2010, the fatal unintentional drowning rate for African Americans was significantly higher than that of whites across all ages. However, the main factors that affect drowning risk across all racial groups are lack of swimming ability, lack of barriers to prevent unsupervised water access, lack of close supervision while swimming, location, failure to wear life jackets, alcohol use, and seizure disorders. During the summer season, the Office of Minority Health encourages everyone to take proper safety measures while swimming in oceans and pools. Visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) Pool Safety website for more information about water safety and how to help prevent injury and drowning. 

The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to gather data from one million or more people living in the United States to accelerate research and improve health. The mission of the All of Us Research Program is to speed up health breakthroughs by collecting health information from one million participants. The information collected will be used for future health studies to improve health. Visit the All of Us Research Program website to learn more about the valiant efforts of NIH research and how you can participate.

The Office of Minority Health participates in several national conferences to increase awareness about health disparities among ethnic racial minority groups, promote the importance of achieving health equity for all and share resources that health professionals and advocates can use in the organizations and communities.

We encourage you to visit the OMH booth if you are attending the following conferences:

National Dental Association

July 11-15, 2018 
Orlando, FL

National Medical Association

August 11-15, 2018

Orlando, FL

American Association of Diabetes Educators

August 17-20, 2018

Baltimore, MD

A 2018 data brief published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) presents data by race and ethnicity on adult depression. This is their first report to include survey data for Asian Americans on this topic. While the prevalence of depression is comparable by gender, Prevalence of Depression Among Adults Aged 20 and Over: United States, 2013–2016, shows that both Hispanic and non-Hispanic black men have higher a prevalence of depression as compared to other races. People living below the federal poverty level also had a significantly higher prevalence of depression. To read this report, search the online catalog here.