A traveling exhibit about the economic and social costs of race-based health disparities – which will come to the Missouri Historical Society History Museum in January 2010 – opened Oct. 3 at the California Science Center in Los Angeles,
RACE: Are we So Different? explores the origins of health and other social disparities. It is part of a larger project, produced by the American Anthropological Association, that also includes an interactive website (www.understandingRACE.org) and downloadable educational materials.
According to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, racial inequalities in health care access and quality added more than $50 billion a year in direct U.S health care costs from 2003 to 2006.