Gaps in the Silk Road: An Analysis of Population Health Disparities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China

The Han and Uyghur populations of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China differ in all major health indicators. In life expectancy, infant mortality, maternal mortality and morbidity Uyghur people are much worse off than Han. Calculations performed with the linear mixed effect multiple regression model show that poor health in Xinjiang is tied directly to Uyghur nationality. Although education, employment and income are also correlated with public health outcomes, they neither cancel out the effect of nationality nor lessen it significantly. Various socio-economic, cultural and historical factors are responsible for the health gap. Preliminary investigations suggest that lack of education, low income, cultural attitudes about gender, group-specific psychological stress, and the socio-economic and demographic changes of the past 60 years could be the major factors.