At an event in Roxbury on Friday announcing a new report on longevity disparities in Boston, City Councilor and Rev. Miniard Culpepper recounted a routine visit to his doctor 12 years ago that proved lifesaving.
“The amazing thing is, I have health insurance,” Culpepper said. “Many don’t in our community. And I go for a yearly physical.”
He recalled a doctor noticing an elevated blood test and sending him for further testing, which revealed prostate cancer. He also happened to have a colonoscopy scheduled at the time, and his doctor encouraged him to keep the appointment. That additional test, Culpepper told the audience at Friday’s event, resulted in another diagnosis — colon cancer.
“Now, if I didn’t have the doctors that I had, if I hadn’t had the health insurance that I had, I never would have found out that I have prostate cancer and colon cancer at the same time,” he said.
Access to screenings like that make all the difference, Culpepper said, adding that’s why he’s still alive today.
Too often, in Boston’s Black community, Mayor Michelle Wu said, those kinds of diagnoses are not detected in time.
“That’s why today, in partnership with the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the city of Boston is investing $1 million to fight cancer in Boston’s black communities,” Wu announced Friday. “This funding will expand access to screenings and boost community-based prevention so we can detect cancer earlier, treat it sooner, and save more lives.”
The city also plans to spend an additional $1 million dollars to support community organizations focused on improving health outcomes specifically for Black men, who have the city’s lowest life expectancy at just 74.4 years, compared to 82 years for other men in Boston, according to the newly release data.
Black women also have shorter lifespans than others in Boston, living an average of nearly six and a half fewer years than other women in the city.
“According to the data, overall life expectancy in Boston has increased over the past 10 years. But for Black residents, it has gone down,” Wu said. “The gap between Black residents and the rest of the city has doubled. The numbers we’re releasing today are not any that any community should stand for or tolerate.”
The city says Friday’s report is the first in a series that will address the health needs of Boston’s diverse population.
According to the Boston Public Health Commission, much of the gap in life expectancy is driven by preventable deaths before the age of 65. In addition to cancer, those include unintentional drug overdoses and cardiometabolic diseases, which include heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
The root causes of the longevity disparities are varied, according to the city’s public health commissioner, Dr. Bisola Ojikutu.
“We’re talking about limited economic opportunity,” she said. ”We’re talking about poor housing. We’re talking about the nature of some of our communities. And we’re talking community violence because number four on the list for black men is homicide. And though our federal leadership has made equity a bad word, we believe that health equity, ensuring that everyone has a fair and just chance to be healthy, is a right and not a privilege. It’s a core value. And it’s something we should all believe in.”
