Pediatrician G. Valerie Beckles, M.D., is a native of Trinidad & Tobago and Aetna's network medical director for South Florida, but for her, health care inequities know no geographic boundaries. Neither does the need for preventive care to ward off high disease rates.

A true citizen of the world, Dr. Beckles graduated from medical school in Jamaica, then trained in Nassau and London, England. For two decades, she has cared for the health of communities near and far, such as the free medical missions she leads to Haiti and Honduras. In the United States, she stresses, "The needs of children in poverty are not being addressed." As for adults, Dr. Beckles says, "Individual African Americans need to be aware of their own health: to routinely get physical exams, to know their disease risk factors, to know their cholesterol levels, blood pressures, and to focus early on a diet that protects against heart disease."

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