Mayor Thomas Menino and The Bay State Banner kicked off a new health-awareness program -- called Be Healthy -- yesterday, focusing on the need to promote health education amongst Bostonians with limited access to healthcare.
According to the press release, Be Healthy will be published monthly as a supplement to The Bay State Banner and will discuss topics including cancers, asthma and other preventable diseases, according to a press release.
In 2005, the Boston Public Health Commission released a report, showing that Boston's smaller ethnic groups suffer from different diseases than the white population, including heart disease and diabetes, according to the same press release.
As a result of the findings, Menino teamed up with The Bay State Banner, which claims a large African American readership, to produce an informative supplement focusing on pertinent health demands.
Be Healthy will be researched and published with the help of the BPHC, Massachusetts General Hospital and other local hospitals and clinics.
"This new partnership is focused on our goals, not just for some of our people but for all of our people," Menino said at the ceremony. "We need to increase health literacy and eradicate the disparities."
"This is a new partnership for Boston, [they are] partners who understand the issues," he added.
Also speaking at the conference was Melvin Miller, the publisher and editor of The Bay State Banner.
"We were horrified at the disparities [in healthcare] and had many, many meetings and discussions," Miller said.
This month's issue of Be Healthy includes a section on men's health, focusing on the specific problems faced by the black male. It also provides a chart to help readers spot the symptoms of prostate cancer, as well as information on clinics that provide free screenings and support groups for men suffering with this disease.
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