Health Problems Continue For Residents In Gulf Coast Area Of Mississippi Since Hurricane Katrina, Study Finds

Main Category: Hypertension
Also Included In: Mental Health;  Aid / Disasters
Article Date: 06 Feb 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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Adults in the Gulf Coast area of Mississippi have experienced increased rates of chronic diseases such as hypertension since Hurricane Katrina, and children in the area have experienced increased rates of mental health problems, according to study recently released by the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University and the Children's Health Fund, the New York Times reports. For the study, researchers conducted interviews with families in the Gulf Coast area of Mississippi who live in private trailer parks, in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer parks or in trailers on their own properties one year after the hurricane, which occurred in August 2005. The study found that the rate of hypertension diagnoses among adults increased by more than one-third since the hurricane. In addition, the study found that diagnoses of depression and anxiety among children increased by 400% since the hurricane. According to the Times, the study "showed no improvement since a survey in Louisiana six months earlier." Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at the Mailman School of Public Health and co-founder of the Children's Health Fund, said that a lack of leadership and inconsistent private donations have led to an unequal distribution of help for Gulf Coast residents since the hurricane. He said, "It's not a lack of money. It's a lack of distribution of the resources. We have a completely dysfunctional distribution system and a great deal of bureaucracy." Redlener added, "For all the practical purposes, these FEMA trailer parks are in fact internal refugee camps. Families are mired in these horrendous conditions with no sense of when this is going to be over, either in the minds of the families or in the officials responsible for them" (Dewan, New York Times, 2/2).

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