Nation Fails To Meet Women's Key Health Needs
WASHINGTON - The National Women's Law Center (NWLC) and Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) have released a new report on the status of women's health in the U.S. The report rates women's overall health in the U.S. as "unsatisfactory" because the nation has failed to meet most of the federal objectives drawn from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Healthy People 2010 agenda.
In 2010, not one state received an overall "Satisfactory" grade for women's health. The report reveals disturbing trends over the past three years (since the Report Card was last published), including a marked increase in binge drinking and a decrease in the number of women getting regular Pap tests.
In a special ten-year look back at trends in women's health since the original report was issued, the Report Card notes progress on several women's health indicators, including lower death rates from coronary heart diseases, and setbacksin such areas as diabetes and Chlamydia.
Making the Grade on Women's Health: A National and State-by-State Report Card 2010 is the fifth in a series of reports since 2000. It grades and ranks each state based on 26 health status benchmarks and also identifies whether states have met 68 health policy goals. This edition of the Report Card includes a special section highlighting two major developments that have a significant bearing on women's health-the enactment of the federal health care law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) and the creation of Healthy People 2020, which establishes a new framework and goals for national health.
