The Heckler Report, officially the ''Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health'', was a landmark 1985 report published by the US Government. It is named after

Margaret Heckler Margaret Mary Heckler (née O'Shaughnessy; June 21, 1931 – August 6, 2018) was an American politician and diplomat who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 1967 until 1983. A member of the Republican Party, she als ...

, who was Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services from 1983 to 1985. The Heckler Report investigated racial and ethnic disparities in health in the United States.

History

In 1977, the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools was formed by

Louis Wade Sullivan Louis Wade Sullivan (born November 3, 1933) is an active health policy leader, minority health advocate, author, physician, and educator. He served as the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services during President ...

, Ralph Cazort, Anthony Rachal, and Walter Bowie. In the early 1980s, they commissioned a study by Ruth Hanft which was published as "Blacks and the Health Professions in the 1980s: A National Crisis and A Time for Action". In March 1983, members of the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools met with

, who was Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Heckler was said to be disturbed by the "Blacks and the Health Professions..." documentation of life expectancy disparities, calling it an "affront to our ideals and to the genius of American medicine". A month later, Heckler contacted them to let them know that she had commissioned a taskforce to be led by Thomas E. Malone and Katrina Johnson. The ''Report of the Secretary's Task Force on Black and Minority Health'' was published in August 1985.

Findings

The Heckler Report found that in the US, 60,000 deaths occurred each year due health disparities. It outlined the six causes of death that accounted for more than 80% of mortality among ethnic and racial minorities. The report included recommendations to reduce these health disparities, as well as to collect data of a higher quality for Hispanics, Asian Americans, American Indians, and

Alaska Natives Alaska Natives (also known as Alaskan Natives, Native Alaskans, Indigenous Alaskans, Aboriginal Alaskans or First Alaskans) are the indigenous peoples of Alaska and include Iñupiat, Yupik, Aleut, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a numbe ...

Legacy

The Heckler Report was the first effort by the US government to investigate health inequality among racial and ethnic minorities. It has been called a "landmark", "groundbreaking", and "a transformative, driving force for change". It has served as the "anchor" of federal efforts to reduce and eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. It directly led to the creation of the

Office of Minority Health The Office of Minority Health (OMH) is an American federal agency created in 1986. It is one of the most significant outcomes of the 1985 Secretary's Task Force ''Report on Black and Minority Health'', also known as the "Heckler Report". The Heckl ...

in 1986. Offices of minority health were additionally established in the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgi ...

(CDC),

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

(NIH), and

Health Resources and Services Administration The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located in North Bethesda, Maryland. It is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for peop ...

(HRSA) as a result of the report.

References

{{reflist Reports of the United States government 1985 documents