A/HRC/15/18 approximately 25 per cent higher than for white Americans in 2001. To understand such disparities better, in 1999 Congress requested the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences to report on the issue. According to the 2002 report of the Institute, the vast majority of studies indicated that minorities are less likely than whites to receive needed care, including clinically necessary procedures, in certain types of treatment areas. Disparities were found in treatment for cancer, cardiovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and mental illness, and were also seen across a range of procedures, including routine treatments for common health problems. 40. Based on the findings of the study, the Institute recommended a strategy to eliminate disparities that would include cross-cultural education and training; policy and regulatory changes to address the fragmentation of health plans along socio-economic lines; healthsystem interventions to promote the use of clinical-practice guidelines; language and cultural interpretation where needed; and the collection of further data to refine the understanding of the problem. The Department of Health and Human Services has acted to implement a number of the recommendations emanating from the study and has made the elimination of health disparities affecting racial and ethnic minority populations, including women’s health issues, a critical goal of Healthy People 2010, the nation’s public-health agenda for the current decade. 41. Within the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Minority Health is developing the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities, a recently drafted plan to address health disparities between minorities and non-minorities in the United States that will serve as the road map to tackle this issue. The plan will promote strategic actions by the Office of Minority Health and its partners and has four main goals: illuminating the compelling issues that impact health outcomes; identifying action steps that partners can adopt and adapt for their target audiences; seeking out and highlighting promising practices that help eliminate health disparities; and promoting tools, programmes and information sources for consumers, caregivers and health providers. 42. In a meeting with the Department of Health and Human Services, the members were informed that the particular health problems that are of most concern for people of African descent are obesity, heart disease, infant mortality (which is 2 to 3 times higher for mothers of African descent compared to the white population), diabetes, HIV/AIDS (17 times higher for women of African descent than white women and 7 times higher for men of African descent than white men) and certain cancers (which are 2 times more prevalent in people of African descent than in the white population). One NGO informed the members of the Working Group that 71 per cent of children with HIV/AIDS are of African descent. The members were also informed that even with access to health services, the health outcomes for people of African descent are inferior to those of the white population. Other disparities include life expectancy: Americans of African descent have a life expectancy of 73 years compared to white Americans’ life expectancy of 78 years. 43. The members were informed about the Healthy Start programme that provides attention for pregnant women. A total of 59 per cent of the beneficiaries of this programme were women of African descent. Other Government initiatives that benefit people of African descent in this area include the National Center on Minority Health and the Health Disparities, which coordinates Government actions concerning racial minority health. The members were also told that all medical institutions must have a plan to decrease health disparities between racial groups. 44. The members learned that the Department of Health works with communities to disseminate relevant health information, using faith-based groups and other nonconventional channels to gain access to ethnic minorities such as people of African descent. 12