Black Life Expectancy Drops, U.S. Reports

The health of white Americans is improving, but AIDS, homicide and lack of access to medical care are cutting short the lives of black Americans, according to a government report released today.

While the life expectancy of whites held steady from 1987 to 1988 at 75.5 years, the span for blacks dropped slightly to 69.5. For black men, it is 65.1 years, the report said.

“America’s health is good overall, and we are making excellent progress in many areas,” Health and Human Services Secretary Louis W. Sullivan said. “But this report also makes clear that we need to do better.”

Referring to the lower life expectancy for blacks, he said: “This concerns us greatly,” and added that the reason “is primarily because of a high homicide rate and AIDS.”

The study, Health United States 1989, is the 14th annual report of the health status of the nation.

Overall, the country improved its infant mortality rate slightly to 9.9 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1988, although this rate still ranks the United States behind 21 other nations and the gap between whites and blacks is widening.

White infants died at the rate of 8.6 per 1,000 live births in 1987, down 0.3 points from 1986. During the same period, the rate for black babies dropped only slightly and at 17.9 per 1,000 births is more than twice as high as for whites.

Sullivan said the nation must move toward “equal health opportunity” for all Americans and that individuals themselves must take more responsibility for their own health.

Promoting healthier living--including quitting smoking, using seat belts, reducing violence and eating more nutritiously--is the key to improving the nation’s health, Sullivan said.

However, he added that while “lifestyle changes are easily articulated as a goal . . . what we don’t have enough information on yet is how do we most effectively get the information across and have people act on it.”

As many as half of all premature deaths in the country from the 10 leading causes of death can be traced to personal lifestyle, said Dr. James Mason, assistant secretary for health.

Dramatic declines in deaths from heart disease, down 33% between 1970 and 1987; and stroke, which dropped by 54% during the period, contributed to the increased longevity of Americans.