Toward a level healthcare playing field

WHILE RESEARCHERS are busy looking under the microscope for genetic differences to help explain health disparities among racial groups, organizations like the Boston Public Health Commission are busy dealing with the hard, cold facts on the ground. Sally Lehrman's April 19 op-ed, "Race, genes, and illness," was a reminder that the work the commission and Mayor Menino are engaged in can't wait for laboratory breakthroughs to tell us, for example, whether the DNA of African-Americans predisposes them to higher rates of cancer, diabetes, and heart disease than whites. We know social determinants play a vital role in who gets sick from what disease. Therefore, our public health approach is to strive to level the playing field.

At the commission, we measure Boston's progress on reducing health disparities and work with healthcare providers and others to improve patient care. And we fund community-based efforts, such as grants to increase access to healthy food.

As a physician, I welcome any type of research that provides insight into better treatment of diseases. But if, as Lehrman suggests, we can't define what race is, then how are we to treat patients based on that social construct?

Dr. NANCY E. NORMAN
Boston

The writer is medical director and interim executive director of the commission.