Copyright 2004 Chattanooga Publishing Company  

By Daniel Yee; The Associated Press

Language barriers are keeping the South's growing Hispanic communities from getting much-needed medical care and more interpreters are needed in the health care system, Hispanic organizations said Friday.

Limited English language skills and the lack of Spanish-speaking health workers have prevented many Hispanic patients from seeking appropriate medical care, according to a survey released Friday by the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic civil rights organization.

"We're concerned about our Hispanic communities," said Janet Murguia, executive director of the organization. "Latinos are now a core group in the South. ... We want to make sure these emerging Latino communities get support."

Murguia and other Hispanic officials say the reluctance of Hispanics to seek or even trust the health care system in the South is similar to that in other parts of the country.

The difference in the South, however, is that the Hispanic population has exploded so quickly that health services have yet to catch up.

In Georgia, the Hispanic population grew from nearly 2 percent in 1990 to more than 5 percent in 2000. Atlanta's Hispanic population has grown 30 percent and Nashville's has grown by 21 percent during the same time period, the organization said.

The survey, which interviewed Hispanic residents and health providers in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee -- the states with the largest recent growth of Hispanics -- found that Hispanic communities have very limited sources of health information.

Health officials do not always target Spanish-language media and Spanish radio programs with "doctores" -- who promote unregulated health remedies -- which can be a community's only source of health information, said Andrea Bazan Manson of the North Carolina-based El Pueblo, which serves Hispanic communities.

The reluctance of patients to seek early health care combined with often inaccurate information can mean patients end up seeking treatment too late, Manson said.

Health departments need more campaigns to educate Hispanics about health issues and medical schools should offer courses so doctors can understand the Hispanic culture better, the organization recommended.

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ON THE NET

National Council of La Raza: http://www.nclr.org