Hepatitis and Liver Cancer in African Americans: Two Concerns and Two Solutions .pdf [244kb]

African Americans and Hispanics are at higher risk of getting hepatitis C and liver cancer than Caucasians. Liver cancer usually occurs after scarring (cirrhosis) resulting from alcoholism and/or hepatitis B infection. Hepatitis C can often leads to liver cancer without causing cirrhosis.

NBCI Encourages Your Participation in Clinical Trials

African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Indians, Asian Americans, and women, had generally not been part of drug clinical trials.

Studies show sometimes drugs work differently in African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Indians, Asian Americans, and women. It is important to make sure we get the best results in all people.

Read on the Clinical Trials Page

You've Got the Power! Clinical Trials Fact Sheet

Download the Latest NBCI Health-at a-Glance .pdf [617kb]
Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma is an incurable blood cancer of the plasma cells. This disease can lead to bone problems including pain, fractures and spinal cord compression, when cancer cells wear away the bone.

Links to Minority Health Resources

NBCI Search

NBCI Corporate Capability Statement

NBCI has the capability of reaching African American and Latino target populations with health literature and information anywhere in the United States where there are black churches.

Health Emergency Declaration (HED) Kick-off

The press conference was held March 28, 2010 at the Israel Baptist Church, Baltimore, MD, kicking off a seven year commitment to healthier lifestyles for all African Americans through education, pre-screening, improved diet, physical exercise, and clinical trials

Baltimore represents the first HED health community, one of 35 such communities across the country.

Continue to the HED Kick-off page >>

Visit the NBCI HIV/AIDS
Initiative Page
The church must work
with health experts to
come up with plans to stop
AIDS in all segments
of the African
American
community

Visit the NBCI Autism
Awareness Page
Our health emergency
Declaration in recognition
of the significance of
Autism Spectrum
Disorders in the African
American Community

NBCI Announces the
Kick-Off of an
Innovative COPD
Education Program

The Health Benefits of Fruits and Vegetables: A Scientific Overview The research behind eating more fruits and vegetables
The Black Church and the Importance of Good Nutrition
What the black church needs to
say to its congregations
about good nutrition.

How Science-based and Community-based
Organizations May
Work with the
Black Church
Producing Effective
Health Promotion
and Policy Initiatives

National Black Church Initiative Affordable Care Act Institute (NBCIACAI)

The purpose of the National Black Church Initiative's Affordable Care Act Institute (NBCIACA I) is to track the health statistics of all eligible Black and Latino citizens who are, and who are not yet, enrolled into the ACA program nationwide.

We hope to create a continuous comparative analysis of the uninsured, those eligible for coverage under the ACA, those who are ineligible, those who are enrolled and those who are not and why. The overall purpose is to highlight any and all obstacles to care – both under the old health care model and under ACA.

There are so many competing forces, each with a narrow agenda and singular goal in mind. NBCIACAI plans to cut through these agendas and deliver real facts on care delivery to minority communities across the country, NBCIACAI falls under NBCI's Health Emergency Declaration Program (HED).

We plan to develop best practices and share our analysis with affinity organizations and the entire health community, with the ultimate goal of eliminating health disparities.

Black Church Health Consumer Index Survey Project (BCHCIS)

The National Black Church Initiative’s (NBCI) Black Church Health Consumer Index Survey (BCHCIS) is an innovative tool to track and analyze up-to-date data covering our membership’s interactions with the health care system. BCHCIS enables NBCI to better understand the behaviors and patterns corresponding to a wide array of issues across our 34,000 churches and 15.7 million members.

The Black church’s demographics span the entirety of the Black community – across age, ethnicity, geography, sex, gender, political persuasions and the like. Our surveys, dating back to the late 1990s, make NBCI a leader in African American consumer information and analytics.

Our methodology is simple and culturally relevant – we use five focused and pointed questions to get at the heart of how our congregants perceive and use the health care system. PhD students help us analyze responses in way that allows NBCI to understand disparities that exist between mainstream America and minority communities. Additional queries that arise from our initial surveys are addressed through additional questions that clarify data analyses.

NBCI is excited about BCHCIS’ potential, especially its ability to help the health care industry understand the nuances of African American patients and researchers. BCHCIS will provide the health care community with new and improved statistical data for educational and marketing purposes.

BCHCIS hopes to impact two promising areas: 1) African American participation in clinical trials; and 2) Unlocking questions about African American drug therapy compliance. These are two critical areas that dramatically impact African American health outcomes.

The success of BCHCIS lies squarely in the ethical teachings of their faith leaders. NBCI through BCHCIS has broken through miscommunication and mistrust barriers affecting the African Americans vis-à-vis the health care and health research industries. Many researchers seek to find answers to health problems plaguing minority communities only to run into mistrust and a lack of communications. BCHCIS will address this foundational mistrust and help reveal answers on how to overcome major psychological barriers that had, and are still having, devastating effects on African American population health.

NBCI 60-Question Health Survey

Credible, reliable and up-to-date demographic information on African American population health is virtually nonexistent in the United States. NBCI is turning the tide on this crisis by instituting a 60 question health survey to be administered through our 34,000 churches and 15.7 million members. These questions were based upon frequently asked questions concerning black health by scholars, researchers, marketers and the corporate community.

However, two compelling issues keep this survey from being administered. First is the issue of credibility. NBCI is not a research organization. It is a faith-based organization. Many in the scientific and research community will question the purpose and research validity of such an expansive health questionnaire. In response, NBCI has recruited 60 leading African American organizations in administering our health survey. We are now in the process of working out the protocol for administering such an expansive statistical survey. We do believe that the questions raised earlier on the issue of qualification and credibility will inevitably be raised again for whatever reasons those in the scientific and research community deems as scholarly necessary.

Second, NBCI faces issues of cost and the ability to attract corporate health sponsors. NBCI is taking a comprehensive look at this initiative and hopes to redesign it in such a manner that would help dispel the issues surrounding qualifications and credibility by recruiting a nationally known partner that is recognized in the health research field. We also hope to expand and attract key corporate and academic sponsors to provide the necessary resources to build a stronger national committee of stakeholders.

NBCI Faith Communities Demographics and Statistical Composition

NBCI has created a statistical analysis of its churches, locations and demographics

The South East Faith Command
The West Faith Command
The Mid-West Faith Command
South West Faith Command
Western Faith Command

16,830 Churches
8,502 Churches
3,047 Churches
3,265 Churches
2,356 Churches

THE NATIONAL BLACK CHURCH INITIATIVE DEMOGRAPHIC AND STATISTICAL COMPOSITION

Faith Command	No. of Churches	Age Range	Gender %		Race %
SOUTHEAST FAITH COMMAND Atlanta, GA A			Male	Female	Black	Hispanic
Florida
Tallahassee Miami West Palm Beach Fort Lauderdale	268 280 12 58	30-75 42-80 34-80 45-80	36% 35 39 35	64% 65 61 65	100 100 100 100
Georgia
Atlanta Savannah B	2,560 99	28-85 39-85	45 34	55 66	100 100
Louisiana
Baton Rouge New Orleans	600 356	45-85 46-85	34 35	66 65	100 100
Alabama
Birmingham Montgomery C	780 656	28-85 32-85	45 45	55 55	100 100
Arkansas
Little Rock	86	35-85	40	60	100
Tennessee
Memphis Nashville Chattanooga D	860 906 458	28-85 28-85 28-85	45 45 45	55 55 55	100 100 100
Kentucky
Louisville Lexington	362 198	35-85 35-85	38 38	62 62	100 100
Mississippi
Jackson E	1,807	24-85	41	59	100
North Carolina
Charlotte Winston-Salem Raleigh Durham Greensboro	450 346 462 241 250	25-85 25-85 25-85 25-85 25-85	45 45 45 45 45	55 55 55 55 55	100 100 100 100 100
South Carolina
Columbia Charleston F Washington, DC	838 682 1,609	29-85 29-85 45-85	40 40 40	60 60 60	100 100 100
Virginia
Richmond Northern-Virginia NORTHEAST FAITH COMMAND New York A	606 1,000	65-85 35-85	45 33	55 67	100 100		16,830
New York
New York City Albany	2,680 156	47-85 38-85	32 50	68 50	99 100	1
New Jersey
Newark Trenton B	680 692	45-85 45-85	31 31	69 69	100 100
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia Pittsburgh C	1,001 500	38-85 43-85	35 35	65 65	100 100
Maryland
Baltimore Prince George's County D	1,008 985	28-85 28-85	45 45	55 55	100 100
Massachusetts
Boston	400	47-85	32	68	100
Connecticut
Hartford New Haven MIDWEST FAITH COMMAND Chicago A	200 200	38-85 38-85	38 38	62 62	100 100		8,502
Ohio
Columbus Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati B	162 289 316 186	47-85 47-85 47-85 47-85	32 32 32 32	68 68 68 68	100 100 100 100
Illinois
Chicago C	800	27-85	40	60	100
Kansas
Kansas City Topeka	89 69	38-85 38-85	38 38	62 62	100 100
Wisconsin
Milwaukee D	58	38-85	38	62	100
Michigan
Detroit E	969	38-85	38	62	100
Indiana
Indianapolis SOUTHWEST FAITH COMMAND Dallas A	109	38-85	38	62	100		3,047
Texas
Dallas Houston B Fort Worth San Antonio WEST FAITH COMMAND Oakland A	956 1,206 603 500	26-85 26-85 26-85 26-85	48 48 48 48	52 52 52 52	96 96 98 95	4 4 2 5	3,265
California
Oakland Los Angeles San Francisco	1,356 700 300	41-85 41-85 48-85	33 33 32	67 67 68	100 94 94	6 6	2,356
	34,000