The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is organizing an online event to engage in a public conversation on health issues facing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities in light of LGBT Health Awareness Week , from March 28 to April 1.
The LGBT population faces higher rates of cancer, obesity, tobacco use, HIV/AIDS, and mental illness than the rest of the nation.
The HHS response includes a Healthy People 2020 LGBT Health workgroup and a National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The agency also is working to reduce disparities among those who identify as LGBT by
- fighting stigma and discrimination with the Office of Adolescent Health;
- improving smoking cessation efforts; and
- offering inclusive family planning and reproductive health care.
Join Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, MSc, acting assistant secretary for health and national coordinator for health information technology, on March 30 at 2 pm ET on social media, using #LGBTHealth, to further engage in the conversation on the health issues that are important to LGBT populations.