Key points
- Health equity is when everyone has the opportunity to be as healthy as possible. CDC is committed to addressing health inequities and ensuring health equity.
- Health inequities can contribute to increased overdose deaths and other negative health outcomes.
- Achieving health equity can help prevent adverse childhood experiences, substance use, and overdose.
CDC is committed to promoting and improving health equity
CDC is committed to addressing health inequities and to ensuring health equity. Every person should have the opportunity to live a healthy life. Health inequities can contribute to negative health outcomes, especially among people who are disproportionately affected by drug overdose.
Social determinants of health (SDOH), or the conditions in which people live, work, learn, and play, can also contribute to health inequities. These conditions can result in intergenerational risk for substance use and overdose. For example, exposure to a parent's substance use or the loss of a parent to overdose can contribute to increased risk of substance use. It can also contribute to overdose in adulthood and impact a person's ability to live a healthy life. Achieving health equity can help prevent adverse childhood experiences, also known as ACEs; substance use; and overdose.
Resources
- Vital Signs: Drug Overdose Deaths Rise, Disparities Widen
- Drug Overdose Deaths involving Cocaine and Psychostimulants with Abuse Potential among Racial and Ethnic Groups – United States, 2004-2019
- Health Equity in the Response to Drug Overdose – NACCHO
- The Opioid Crisis and the Black/African American Population: An Urgent Issue – SAMHSA
- CDC's Office of Health Equity
- CDC's Health Equity Guiding Principles for Inclusive Communication
- CDC's Tribal Health
- CDC's Rural Health
- CDC's Island Affairs
- CDC's Foundation of Health Equity Self-Guided Training Plan
- Racism and Health