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Black History Month: Health

Black History Month is observed each February across the United States. For health, the month is both a reckoning and a call to action. The structural conditions that shaped Black life in America, from slavery to redlining to discriminatory medical practice, have a measurable, documented footprint in present-day health outcomes. This is not speculation. The data from CDC, the Office of Minority Health, and KFF consistently show that Black Americans die younger, develop chronic illness earlier, and receive less effective treatment than white Americans for reasons that are social, economic, and historical in origin.

In 2023, the average life expectancy at birth for Black Americans was 74.0 years, compared to 78.4 years for the country overall. Black men averaged just 70.3 years. The five leading causes of death for Black Americans are heart disease, cancer, unintentional injuries, stroke, and diabetes. In each category, the burden is disproportionate. Black Americans ages 18 to 49 are twice as likely to die from heart disease as white adults in the same age range. The infant mortality rate for non-Hispanic Black babies is 10.93 per 1,000 live births, more than twice the rate for non-Hispanic white infants (source: CDC NCHS FastStats, reviewed February 2026).

February is the right moment to name these facts plainly and to connect individual health decisions to the systems that shape them. Acknowledging history is not the same as accepting its consequences as permanent. Screening gets done, conditions get caught earlier, outcomes improve when people know what they are up against and where to get help.

The data, plainly

What you can do this month

For individuals: - Schedule a blood pressure check. Nearly 6 in 10 Black adults have hypertension, and many do not have it controlled. - Get a fasting blood glucose test if you have not had one in the past year. Black adults are 24% more likely than the U.S. average to have diabetes. - If you are pregnant or planning pregnancy, ask your OB or midwife about maternal mortality risk factors and your options for doula support. - Learn your family health history across at least two generations. Knowing what your grandparents died from tells you where to focus your screening. - Talk to one person in your household about a preventive care appointment they have been putting off.

For providers: - Explore the HHS Office of Minority Health's Think Cultural Health platform for free CME on culturally and linguistically appropriate care. - Review your practice's screening rates by race and ethnicity. Disparities in who gets referred for specialist care often start in the primary care office.

Resources

Sources

  1. Office of Minority Health, HHS -- Black/African American Health
  2. CDC NCHS FastStats: Health of Black or African American Population (reviewed February 2026)
  3. KFF: Key Data on Health and Health Care by Race and Ethnicity
  4. HHS Black History Month Fact Sheet, February 2024

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