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March 6, 2007
All New Jersey residents have a right to equal access to high quality health care.
Unfortunately, vast differences persist in health outcomes among our diverse communities. Members of minority and multicultural communities have disproportionately higher incidence and mortality rates for diseases including asthma, diabetes, infant mortality, HIV/AIDS, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and obesity.
We simply are not making enough progress in closing the disparities gap for more than one third of our residents.
We can and we must do better.
We need new approaches, new ideas. We need to know which strategies are working and which strategies are missing the mark. We have to answer some fundamental questions to create a plan that will have real, tangible results.
That's why this Strategic Plan for Eliminating Disparities is so important. It examines the programs and services within the Department of Health and Senior Services that address racial and ethnic disparities, and it makes recommendations for strengthening these programs and developing new initiatives that will help the Department work toward the elimination of disparities.
Health and Senior Services Commissioner Dr. Fred Jacobs frequently says that there is no more important mission for the Department of Health and Senior Services than reducing health disparities.
I could not agree more.
This plan is a call to action and I know it will guide the Department of Health and Senior Services in improving health outcomes for all New Jersey citizens.
Sincerely,
JON S. CORZINE
Governor
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Office of Minority and Multicultural Health
