The Health Disparity

The health disparity between South Los Angeles (SPA6) and neighboring West Los Angeles provides a snapshot of how the inability of South Los Angeles residents to afford adequate housing, healthy foods, jobs and health insurance has led to an immeasurable degree of health and financial problems. UMMA has become a safe haven for those who need it most, many of whom would have no place else to go for health care.

HEALTH DISPARITY

• South LA has the Population Obesity Percentage of 29% for children and 33% for adults, the highest levels of childhood obesity in Los Angeles County
• Adults in South Los Angeles reported having fair to poor health at a rate that is twice the national average.
• 45% of adults & 18% of children had difficulty accessing medical care. 19% of adults and 10% of children attributed this to affordability
• Performed the worse in Los Angeles county for HPV and influenza vaccinations
• 51 out of 1000 15-19 year olds will have a baby (highest rate of teen pregnancy in LA)
• 8 in 100 babies will be born underweight, and 6.1 in 1000 will die
• 39 of 100,000 15-34 year olds will be murdered
• About 1 in 100 residents will become infected with chlamydia each year. That’s nearly 2x the average of Los Angeles County, and over 2x the national average
• 25 residents out of 100,000 will die of flu or pneumonia – the highest rate in the county
• Significantly higher rate of diabetes related deaths where people are potentially undiagnosed at 34 out of 100,000 deaths.
• In South Los Angeles, more people die of lung cancer, stroke, diabetes and heart disease than in any other place in Los Angeles County.
• UMMA’s service area has the highest rate of preterm births, occurring mostly among African Americans.
• African American babies born in South LA have a 13.5% higher death rate within their first year than Caucasian infants.
• Hispanic children in South LA are nearly three times as likely as Caucasian children to have no usual source of health care.

FINANCIAL DISPARITY

• South Los Angeles has the highest rate of overall poverty in Los Angeles County. 31% of residents live below the Federal Poverty Line.
• The average annual household income in South Los Angeles is less than $22,050.00 for a family of four.
• Only one full-scale ER/trauma center remains to serve over one million residents in a nearly 100 square mile area.
• According to recent indicators, approximately 370,000 residences of South LA are unemployed.
• Half of South Los Angeles’ designated area population of are uninsured.
• South Los Angeles has the highest rate of homelessness, outside of skid row.