New Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index Launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the HHS Office of Minority Health
Systemic socioeconomic inequities like poverty, poor housing conditions, and lack of access to quality health care, lead to worse health outcomes among racial and ethnic minority populations in the United States. Such factors also increase risk for the ability of racial and ethnic minority populations to anticipate, confront, repair and recover from the effects of a disaster or public health emergency—these factors combine to form the concept known as social vulnerability.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the HHS Office of Minority Health developed the Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) to enhance existing resources to support the identification of racial and ethnic minority communities at the greatest risk for disproportionate impact and adverse outcomes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minority Health SVI is an extension of the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, which is a platform that helps emergency response planners and public health officials identify, map, and plan support for communities that will most likely need support before, during, and after a public health emergency.
Learn more about social vulnerability and how the Minority Health SVI was developed. To access the Minority Health Social Vulnerability Index, click here.