About 18 states have created plans in which health care and community leaders are working on closing the differences in health and health care among the general population and minority communities, says Judi Hilman, a Utah Issues analyst.

With Utah's growing minority community, she hopes people here can start working on a plan similar to those in other states.

"We need to diversify our health care system really quickly," she says, "or the disparity we see now will get even worse."

To develop a Utah "health disparities plan," Hilman is one of several people organizing a daylong statewide summit this week for doctors, health care officials, community leaders and parents.

The event, called "Eliminating Inequalities in Utah's Health Through Public-Private Sector Partnership," is sponsored by Utah Issues Center for Poverty, Research and Action and the state's Office of Ethnic Affairs and Department of Health.

The main purpose for the event is to create a statewide plan by developing and strengthening partnerships between groups that deal with health care, such as hospitals, health departments, community groups and health insurance companies, Hilman says. During the summit, health care leaders from other states are scheduled to talk about national health disparities and what states can do about them.

Owen Qui onez, coordinator for the state Health Department's Center for Multi-Cultural Health, says his office is already working on a plan for how the state can work better with minority communities and narrow the differences between the health of the general population and minorities. He agrees that a statewide plan is needed and hopes the summit is a starting point to raise support for a plan and community partnerships.

At the summit, participants will be able to sign up for one of four work groups - access and policy; data and research; culture and language; and health promotion and education.

Hilman says one of the biggest obstacles in improving health disparities in minority communities is finding community groups and people who they can relate to and "trust." Utah's minorities make up 16 percent of the state's population, according to 2004 census estimates.

In order to get the word out to the community about a specific health concern or program, health care leaders are realizing that they need to understand a group's culture and, sometimes, use a community's native language, Hilman says.

For example, she says, the state Health Department has created partnerships with community groups by giving out "tobacco grants" for programs to educate people about smoking.

In Utah, 12 percent of adults smoke cigarettes. But 28 percent of blacks and 14 percent of Latinos smoke, according to Health Status by Race and Ethnicity, a report released in May by the Utah Department of Health.

jsanchez@sltrib.com

If you go

l What: Eliminating Inequalities in Utah's Health Through Public-Private Sector Partnership, a statewide summit.

l When: 7:45 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., Thursday.

l Where: Salt Lake City Public Library, 210 E. 400 South.

l Cost: Free.

l Registration deadline: Tuesday.

l To register online: http://www.utahissues.org

l For information: Judi Hilman at 521-2035, ext. 103 or judi@utahissues.org.

l Speakers include: Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.; Brian Gibbs, director of the Program to Eliminate Health Disparities at the Harvard School of Public Health; David Sundwall, executive director of the Utah Department of Health; Judy McCree Carrington, program coordinator for the Colorado State Office of Health Disparities.

Did you know?

l 25 percent of Latinos do not have health insurance.

l In Utah, 10 percent of children statewide live in poverty. But 22 percent of Latino, 38 percent of American Indian and 24 percent of black children live in poverty.

l Diabetes rates among American Indians are twice that of all Utahns.

l In Utah, 56 percent of people are overweight or obese. But 80 percent of Pacific Islanders and 72 percent of blacks are obese.

l In Utah, HIV incidence is eight per 100,000 people. Among blacks, it's 78 per 100,000 people and among Latinos, it's 16.

Source: Health Status by Race and Ethnicity, a report released by the Utah Department of Health in May.