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Statement opposing
California ballot initiative Proposition 54: Classification
by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin
September 2003
The
American College of Epidemiology is the professional organization
dedicated to continued education and advocacy for epidemiologists
in their efforts to promote good science and the public
health (www.acepidemiology.org).
Many
epidemiologists dedicate their careers to the collection
and analysis of data in order to monitor and understand
the determinants of human health and disease. Proposition
54, a ballot initiative that will appear on the October
7, 2003 gubernatorial recall ballot in California, seeks
to limit the kinds of data that can be collected. Entitled "Classification
by Race, Ethnicity, Color, or National Origin (CRECNO)",
Proposition 54 proposes a ban on the collection or use
of data on race, ethnicity, color, or national origin by
the state of California. Although there is an exemption
for "otherwise lawful classification of medical research
subjects and patients", the ban would adversely impact
many of the data sources typically used by epidemiologists.
For
example, the ban on the collection of data by race, ethnicity,
color, or national origin would hamper the efforts of national
cancer registries to identify and monitor trends in cancer
incidence and mortality if data from the state of California
were incomplete. The ban would also apply to birth and
death certificates and affect such vital statistics as
infant mortality rates. Indeed, the second overarching
goal of Healthy People 2010, our nation's public health
agenda (www.healthypeople.gov), is to eliminate health
disparities among segments of the US population, including
differences that occur by race or ethnicity. Efforts to
understand and eliminate racial and ethnic disparities
for many diseases, and for access to many important health
care services, would be nearly impossible if racial and
ethnic data were no longer available.
The
American College of Epidemiology strongly opposes Proposition
54 because epidemiologists have an ethical obligation and
a professional responsibility to address areas of health
disparity. In order to address disparities, we need to
know where the disparities lie, and this requires the collection
of specific types of data, including data on race, ethnicity,
color, and national origin. |
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