New Report Highlights Need to Address Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in Utah

(Salt Lake City, UT) – The Utah Department of Health (UDOH), Office of Health Disparities (OHD) recently released the Utah Health Status by Race and Ethnicity2021report. This report, which includes data ranging from 2015 to 2019, demonstrates the extent of racial and ethnic health disparities in Utah before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health disparities are differences in health outcomes closely linked to economic, socio-cultural, environmental, and geographic disadvantage.

The report found racial and ethnic health disparities exist in 71% of the health and public health measures of wellbeing. Racial and ethnic health disparities exist when one or more racial and ethnic minority populations experience worse health outcomes when compared with the Utah population overall.

“Many Utahns faced health disparities prior to COVID-19,” said Brittney Okada, with the Office of Health Disparities. “This report is one tool in our collection of resources to help us better understand where health equity efforts can be prioritized. This can inform partners as we continue to navigate the pandemic and ongoing public health efforts.”

This the fourth installment of the Utah Health Status by Race and Ethnicityreport, which was first published in 2005.

Due to the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Utah Department of Health, the 2020 report was postponed until 2021.

Data on COVID-19 health disparities by race and ethnicity is not included in this report as it is widely available to the public at coronavirus.utah.gov. COVID-19-related reports will be published in 2021 and 2022.

The 2021 report can be viewed here. The UDOH OHD Health Equity Framework can be accessed here.

Contact:

Brittney Okada

UDOH Office of Health Disparities

(385) 315-0220