Much has been said during the last several years about the so-called general health gap between black and white Americans. Sometimes this is addressed in terms of a specific disorder. (An example is hypertension, which will be discussed in a report in the MEDICAL NEWS & PERSPECTIVES section dated July 4, 1986. And, earlier this month, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the Ad Hoc Committee on Cardiovascular/ Pulmonary Disease Risk Factors in Minority Populations jointly sponsored a Forum on Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Minority Populations at a site near the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Md, just outside Washington, DC.) In the case of black Americans specifically, a new initiative has taken form in recent months. It is believed to be greater in scope than previous efforts and holds promise for focusing attention on—and bringing about improvements in—the overall state of health of this