Health affairs
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State actions requiring adolescent girls to receive the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine created controversy following the vaccine's approval in 2006. Some health professionals worried that the controversy might dampen public support for those state policies and for other school immunizations in general. ⋯ We discovered that public support for the HPV vaccine mandates wanes when the public is informed that the policies are controversial. However, the experimental survey also revealed that exposure to this policy controversy did not spill over and reduce public support for immunizations in general.
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Minorities suffer more frequently and more severely from many diseases than do non-Hispanic whites, and they often receive lower-quality care, which leads to poorer health outcomes. Given the diversity of the US population, comparative effectiveness research should capture the health outcomes of racial and ethnic minority groups and investigate whether disparities reflect variations in care or different responses to treatment. We recommend a number of measures to ensure that this research addresses the needs of minorities, including greater attention to subgroup analysis. We also recommend the increased recruitment of minorities for clinical trials, and such measures as using community health workers to translate research results in ways that will increase their relevance to minority patients.