Heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death across race, ethnicity, and gender (see Table 2-1). African Americans were 30 percent more likely than whites to die prematurely from heart disease in 2010, and African American men are twice as likely as whites to die prematurely from stroke (HHS, 2016b,d).

Disparities in HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STDs, and TB Differences may occur by gender, race or ethnicity, education, income, disability, geographic location and sexual orientation among others.

“Health disparity,” generally refers to a higher burden of illness, injury, disability, or mortality experienced by one population group relative to another group. A “health care disparity” typically refers to differences between groups in health coverage, access to care, and quality of care.