Report: NY Made Steady Health Gains Pre-Pandemic

Public News Service

Andrea Sears, Public News Service - NY

December 14 2020

NEW YORK -- A new report shows New Yorkers have made progress in cutting down on smoking and getting more exercise, but the state is lagging in childhood immunizations.

The 31st annual America's Health Rankings report shows in 2019, the percentage of New York adults who smoke dropped to under 13%, tied with Maryland for the seventh-lowest smoking rate in the country.

Dr. Rhonda Randall, senior medical advisor for the United Health Foundation, said New York state has consistently moved higher in the overall health rankings over the years.

"When we started in 1990, New York was ranked number 40," Randall recalled. "Last year, New York was ranked number 11, and a significant amount of that progress was due to less and less New Yorkers smoking."

She confirmed the report also noted areas where New York needs to do better. The state has the highest income inequality in the nation and ranks 45th for childhood immunizations.

Randall noted the figures in the report are from 2019 before the COVID pandemic, and this year many children have missed their vaccinations for diseases like measles, mumps and rubella.

"Many of those childhood, vaccine-preventable illnesses are more transmittable than COVID in children, and more deadly in children than COVID," Randall warned. "So, it's important that we get those kids caught up."

The America's Health Rankings report looked at nearly 70 different measures of health, from diseases to the environment and social influences. Randall projected the impact of the COVID pandemic is likely to be seen in future reports for years to come.

"Whether they are the prevalence of chronic diseases going up or down, whether we're seeing that preventative care has declined," Randall explained. "And I expect to see a significant impact, particularly on some of the social and economic factors."

Disclosure: United Healthcare - New York and Northern Pennsylvania contributes to our fund for reporting on Health Issues, Hunger/Food/Nutrition, Mental Health, and Philanthropy. If you would like to help support news in the public interest, click here.

Andrea Sears, Public News Service - NY Get more headlines like this via email

This story was originally published by the Public News Service. For more information, visit publicnewsservice.org. And subscribe now to Public News Service’s “2020Talks,” a daily 3-minute podcast that will answer all your election questions.