Site serves minorities' health

The National Institutes of Health has launched a World Wide Web site dedicated to providing information on the health of minorities.

The Office of Research on Minority Health (ORMH) unveiled its site April 14 to provide information for African Americans, American Indians, Hispanic Americans and Asian and Pacific Islanders.

"We want to encourage more research in the field of minority health so that all Americans may share equally in the benefits of biomedical and behavioral research," said Dr. John Ruffin, associate director of minority health at NIH.

The Web site will provide information about minority health programs, clinical trials and resources dedicated to minority health issues, including adult and infant mortality rates, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and other diseases prevalent among minorities.

ORMH was created 10 years ago with a mandate to increase research and training with regard to minority health issues and to increase the number of minorities in medical research studies.

Scientists, health care providers and students will be able to access information about research and training on the Web site, as well as health statistics and NIH grants for minority studies. Until now, there was no central location to find this information.