HD43 - Task Force to Review Health-Related Data Sets


Executive Summary:
House Joint Resolution (HJR) 647 of the 1999 Session of the General Assembly requested the Commissioner of Health to establish a task force to review and examine health related data sets in the Commonwealth. This review was to be conducted as part of further analysis of the health status of African-Americans.

Specifically, HJR 647 directs the Commissioner of Health to:

1. Review and examine health related data sets in Virginia as part of further analysis of the health status of African-Americans:

2. Develop reporting processes to generate more reliable estimates of minority populations;

3. Examine how state agencies and private health organizations can assist by collecting and reporting data classified by race and ethnicity.

This study is the report of the Commissioner of Health's Task Force that examined available information from public and private sector resources on health-related data sets in Virginia. The Commissioner directed the Office of Minority Health to complete the tasks associated with HJR 647. Each of these sets was reviewed for the inclusion of health information on African-Americans. For this report, the terms "African-American" and "Black" are used interchangeably, and denote any person from the racial group that identifies Africa as a common ancestry.