Latest from County Health Rankings
Los Angeles County residents are living longer than ever — and about than 2.6 years longer than the average American — with a life expectancy of more than 80 years, public health officials announced Tuesday. But economic and racial disparities persist, with some minorities and low-income residents dying younger than wealthier neighbors.
The state’s reported progress in reducing infant mortality is to be cheered, but the fact that infant mortality increased slightly for African-Americans in 2009, and that a smaller percentage of black women received prenatal care that year, should be deeply troubling to public health officials.
Persistent racial and class disparities in access to health care are the principal reasons Maryland’s infant mortality rate — the number of infant deaths per thousand live births has remained disturbingly high over the years. And the tragedy is that most of these deaths are preventable.
Measuring the overall health of a population at the local level is an elusive and cumbersome task. As a result, there have been few statistical studies historically that hint at how Western North Carolina stacks up. But this year, an unprecedented study compiled health rankings for every county in each state across the country.








Spread the Word
Find us on