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Healthy women in healthy communities is important to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). HRSA is charged with ensuring access to quality health care through a network of community-based health centers, maternal and child health programs, and State, Territorial, and community HIV/AIDS programs. In addition, HRSA’s mission includes supporting individuals pursuing careers in medicine, nursing, and many other health disciplines. HRSA fulfills these responsibilities by collecting and analyzing timely and topical information that identifies health priorities and trends that can be addressed through program interventions and capacity building.

HRSA is pleased to present Women’s Health USA 2006, the fifth edition of the Women’s Health USA series. To reflect the ever-changing, increasingly diverse population and its characteristics, Women’s Health USA selectively highlights emerging issues and trends in women’s health. Data and information on life expectancy, postpartum depression, food security and smoking during pregnancy are a few of the new topics included in this site. Where possible, every effort has been made to highlight racial and ethnic as well as sex disparities.

This site was developed by HRSA to provide readers with an easy-to-use collection of current and historical data on some of the most pressing health challenges facing women, their families, and their communities. Women’s Health USA 2006 is intended to be a concise reference for policymakers and program managers at the Federal, State, and local levels to identify and clarify issues affecting the health of women. In these pages, readers will find a profile of women’s health from a variety of data sources. The site brings together the latest available information from various agencies within the Federal government, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Labor, and U.S. Department of Justice. Non-Federal data sources were used when no Federal source was available. Every attempt has been made to use data collected in the past 5 years. It is important to note that the incidence data included is generally not age-adjusted to the 2000 population standard of the United States. This affects the comparability of data from year to year, and the interpretation of differences across various groups, especially those of different races and ethnicities. Without age adjustment, it is difficult to know how much of the difference in incidence rates between groups can be attributed to different age distributions. Also, presentation of racial and ethnic data may appear differently on some pages as a result of the design and limitations of the original data source.

Some of the topics covered in Women’s Health USA 2005 were not included in this year’s edition because new data were not available at the time of printing of the publication. For coverage of these issues, please refer to the Women’s Health USA 2005 Web site. The National Women’s Health Information Center Web site also has updated and detailed women’s and minority health data and maps available at the State and county level and by age, race/ethnicity, and sex.

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Women's Health USA 2006 is not copyrighted. Readers are free to duplicate and use all or part of the information contained on this page. Suggested Citation: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Women's Health USA 2006. Rockville, Maryland: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2006.