We offer this first report to inform and advance the policy debate on the health of women and girls . Our examination of available existing health and social indicators across categories of health and wellness behavior, reproductive health, chronic disease, cancer, infectious disease, and social determinants of health generates three primary insights: 1) we observe stark racial disparities in many indicators, 2) we see unacceptably poor health outcomes on certain measures, most notably, high rates of sexual transmitted infections, significantly higher than even the alarming state rate, and 3) we see significant differences between Orleans and Jefferson Parishes and between them and the state as a whole . We will have a greater understanding of the health of women and girls when we have more representative data that differentiates by race, age, sexuality, and location, allowing us to better understand the social determinants of health (excerpted from the Executive Summary, Page 7).
