Emerging Infections Program Efforts to Address Health Equity

Area of Science:

• Public Health Surveillance
• Infectious Diseases
• Health Equity Research

Background:

• Established in 1995, the Emerging Infections Program (EIP) is a collaborative network of state health departments, academic partners, and the CDC.
• EIP conducts active, population-based surveillance for infectious diseases, focusing on prevention and public health practice evaluation.
• The program increasingly addresses health equity challenges outlined in Healthy People 2020 objectives.

Purpose of the Study:

• To advance health equity by improving data collection on race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status for infectious conditions.
• To recognize and subsequently work towards eliminating health inequities in infectious disease outcomes.
• To transition surveillance methods towards more inclusive measures of social determinants of health.

Main Methods:

• Active, population-based surveillance for infectious diseases.
• Collecting and analyzing surveillance data stratified by race/ethnicity.
• Piloting area-based socioeconomic status measures for population-based surveillance.

Main Results:

• Substantial progress in collecting and analyzing data by race/ethnicity.
• Development and piloting of area-based socioeconomic status measures for surveillance.
• Enhanced understanding of social determinants impacting infectious disease surveillance.

Conclusions:

• EIP is advancing health equity goals through improved data collection and analysis.
• The program is moving beyond race/ethnicity to incorporate broader socioeconomic measures.
• These efforts are crucial for recognizing and addressing health disparities in infectious diseases.