Definitions of Health Disparities:

"Differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and the burden of diseases and other adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups in the United States" -The National Institutes for Health

"...racial or ethnic differences in the quality of healthcare that are not due to access-related factors or clinical needs, preferences, and appropriateness of intervention." -Institute of Medicine's Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care

The following populations tend to be at higher risk for smoking and smoking-related disease relative to the national average:

• African Americans

• Latinos/as

• Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders

• Native Americans

• People in treatment for substance abuse

• People in treatment for mental illness

• People with disabilities

• Smokeless tobacco users

• The gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community

• Persons with low socioeconomic status

For more information about health disparities related to tobacco use, please visit the following websites:

State Tobacco Education and Prevention Partnership (STEPP) Colorado, Health Disparities

Center for Disease Control, Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities

United States Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health