Public health funding has stayed steady the past few years according to the Trust for America’s Health.The organization released a report on state and federal health spending and found some states spend a lot more than others.
According to Rich Hamburg, interim president and CEO at Trust for America’s Health, Utah is one of the healthier states in the country. Obesity rates are low and diabetes rates are the lowest. Tobacco use is also the lowest compared with the rest of the nation.
But there’s one area in which Utah does not fare well.
“One of the real public health epidemics we’re having in this country is drug overdose," Hamburg said. "And we’ve seen those rates go up nationwide, close to 400 percent in the last decade or so.”
Hamburg said although there are differences from state to state, it’s important to have enough funding in case there’s an emergency like the Zika virus.
“There are barriers to healthy living but, there’s some things that just need to be done," Hamburg said. "I mean we need to vaccinate our population against the annual flu - we need to insure that kids receive the whole set of vaccinations that they need to ensure they’re able to fight disease outbreaks.”
He also said where you live should not determine your health status, so he recommends that core public funding needs to increase across the whole country.