The Development of a Black and Ethnic minority health policy at the department of health

Abstract

Abstract Britain is a truly multiracial and multicultural society. Immigration into Britain in 1960s and 1970s was mainly fiom South East Asia, Africa and the West Indies. A large number of immigrants have now become residents of Britain and we have a second generation of Black and ethnic minority groups in this country who were bom in Britain. More recently we have been joined by a number of refugee groups and asylum seekers. In the last 10 years, there have been a number of initiatives which have been taken to develop appropriate policies to improve access to health services by ethnic groups and to understand their health and disease patterns. The main issues are: (1) What policies have been developed? (2) The main areas of concern. (3) The differing health and disease patterns among ethnic minority groups. (4) How the policies are being implemented at the health service level and the lessons learned. (5) How the health professionals are being trained to deliver appropriate services to these groups. (6)...