Persistent and emerging patterns of health disparities exist throughout the United States at the national, state, and local level.  The Office of Health Equity, a sector of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA),  created the 2017 Health Equity Report, which presents a comprehensive assessment of programs aimed to reduce those disparities and promote health equity. The report addresses HRSA’s key strategic plan to improve access to quality health care and services, strengthen the health workforce, build healthy communities, and improve health equity. The Report emphasizes HRSA’s three identified priority areas of the nation: opioid use, childhood obesity, and mental health. The biennial report provides data on HRSA programs’ achievements and also notes areas for improvement.

Chapter 3 of the Report highlights Maternal and Child Health by including programs that are part of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB). In the chapter, featured programs contain background information, available data, and notable achievements that Maternal and Child Health professionals can use to analyze the effectiveness of programs.