Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In A City Where Health Takes A Back Seat To Getting By, One Man Wants To Turn It Around
When Dr. Abdul El-Sayed went after the job of Detroit's health commissioner he was facing almost insurmountable odds: the department had been all but dismantled, the city was ravaged by poverty and neglect and its health problems ran deep and severe. But El-Sayed knew he wanted to try to help make a difference in his home town.
The biggest issues for Detroit’s health department are tied to poverty — 4 out of 10 residents live below the poverty line — or to decades of neglect that have hit the city’s African-American majority especially hard. Infant mortality is higher here than in any other major American city, and higher than in some foreign countries, including Mexico. Nearly 4 out of 10 Detroit adults are obese. The rate of asthma hospitalizations in the city is more than three times higher than the state average. (Nather, 5/3)
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