Strengths:

• High rate of high school graduation
• Low geographic disparity within the state
• Low rate of uninsured population

 

Challenges:

• Low per capita public health funding
• High levels of air pollution
• High rate of cancer deaths

 

Highlights:

• In the past ten years, the rate of uninsured population increased from 8.3 percent to 10.9 percent.
• In the past year, the incidence of infectious disease increased from 7.5 to 9.7 cases per 100,000 population.
• In the past year, the rate of preventable hospitalizations decreased from 72.0 to 69.6 discharges per 1,000 Medicare enrollees.
• More than 2.2 million adults, or 22.4 percent of the adult population, smoke in Pennsylvania.
• More than 2.8 million adults are obese in Pennsylvania; that is 28.6 percent of all adults.
• Five years ago, the per capita public health funding was $73 per person; this year it is $52.

 

Disparities:

• In Pennsylvania, smoking is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 27.3 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 18.6 percent and Hispanics at 16.1 percent; obesity is more prevalent among non-Hispanic blacks at 38.9 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 28.0 percent; and sedentary lifestyle is more prevalent among Hispanics at 33.6 percent than non-Hispanic whites at 24.5 percent.

 

State Health Department Web Site: www.health.state.pa.us