HEALTH-CARE NEEDS OF MEDICALLY UNDERSERVED WOMEN OF COLOR - THE ROLE OF THE BUREAU OF PRIMARY HEALTH-CARE

The Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) was developed to increase acc ess to comprehensive primary and preventive health care and to improve the health status of medically underserved populations. Approximately 43 million Americans fall into this category, and the majority are po or, female, young, and uninsured. Under the Public Health Services Act , BPHC does not provide direct services, hut rather assists local comm unities in identifying populations at risk of poor health outcomes and helps these communities through various programs. One of the newest i nitiatives of BPHC is the Office of Minority and Women's Health, devel oped with a mission to help reduce the disparities in the health statu s of women of racial and ethnic minority populations. This article out lines these disparities and discusses proposals for reducing them.