E/CN.4/1995/78/Add.1 page 12 In health, the delivery services are underfunded and inefficiently run, resulting in higher rates of infant mortality, communicable diseases and cancer and decreased life expectancy; In education, the system is characterized by underfunding, underachievement, alienation, and racist stereotyping; In the criminal justice system, the rate of imprisonment and the application of the death penalty are disproportionately higher among them; Police brutality is common in their communities, especially against youth; Immigration and refugee policy are biased against them." 14/ 38. The Special Rapporteur would now like to illustrate this panorama with a number of facts concerning the main topics he has chosen. A. Health 39. The consequences of racism and racial discrimination in the field of health are reflected in the disparity in access to health care, the infant mortality rates and the life expectancy of Whites and Blacks or Latino Americans. This is confirmed by a number of studies and by the interview held by the Special Rapporteur at the Department of Health and Human Services. For example, a scrutiny of the statistics on cardiovascular disease and heart attacks shows that the mortality rate from these diseases is 29 per cent higher among African Americans than among Whites. The rate among Black women is twice that among White women. Despite the progress made in reducing overall infant mortality, the infant mortality rate among African Americans is twice that of White children. The risks of an African American becoming blind as a result of glaucoma are seven times greater than those faced by a White. The following statement is to be found in a publication by the New York African American Institute: "Glaucoma is one of many communicable diseases that continue to exacerbate the health crisis in the African American community. The crisis is further compounded by recent revelations of the resurgence of both syphilis and tuberculosis. When these two are combined with the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the potential for high incidence of morbidity and mortality in the African American community is devastating. Of the 152,126 cases of AIDS as reported by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, for 1990, African and Latino Americans together comprised 44 per cent of the cumulative reported cases of AIDS in the U.S. African American women and African American children under thirteen years of age accounted for 52 per cent of all cases of AIDS in those categories by September 1990 as reported by the CDC." 15/ 40. The incidence of cancer, as well as of sexually transmitted diseases, of infant mortality and of cardiovascular disorders is also disproportionately high among African Americans in comparison with Whites. Lung cancer, cancer of the oesophagus and stomach cancer are predominant among African Americans