- Janice Hopkins Tanne
- New York
The American Medical Association (AMA) has expressed concern about the widening health disparities between rural and urban communities, with death rates around 20% higher for the 46 million Americans who live in rural areas than for those who live in urban areas.1 Many people in rural communities also live below the poverty line, said Bruce Scott, president elect of AMA, at a press briefing with the National Rural Health Association in New Orleans on 7 May.
AMA is particularly concerned that shortages of primary care and specialist physicians and closures of hospitals will lead to worse outcomes from cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory illness, and unintentional injuries for rural residents.
The US Centres for …