From left, Dr. Jennifer Bryan, President of Mississippi State Medical Association, and State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney speak to the press during the unveiling of 2024's state Public Health Report Card. (Photo by Jeremy Pittari | Magnolia Tribune)
- “We are better than we were, and that is a public health win,” said State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney.
At the Capitol on Tuesday morning, representatives of the Mississippi State Department of Health (MSDH) and the Mississippi State Medical Association (MSMA) provided an overview of the Magnolia State’s most recent health report card.
The results highlight many areas where health is improving in Mississippi while also showing where more focus is needed to protect the lives of Mississippians, the groups said.
Overall, Mississippi moved up in the national rankings issued by America’s Health Rankings from its previous rank of 54th to 49th this year, State Health Officer Dr. Daniel Edney said during the Capitol press event.
While most of the news was positive, such as the state demonstrating improvements in the areas of declining opioid deaths, HIV infection rates and cases of tuberculosis, there are areas of concern that linger, namely in preventable deaths due to obesity, diabetes and heart conditions.
When compared to the rest of the nation, Mississippi is currently ranked 50th in infant mortality, 48th in diabetes, 48th in obesity, 49th in hypertension and 45th for overall maternal mortality, the report card shows.
“We are better than we were, and that is a public health win,” Dr. Edney said. “But every notch of improvement we are able to demonstrate means more lives saved, more Mississippians are living healthier and happier. So, we’re seeing modest improvement.”
When asked about their stance on Medicaid expansion, Dr. Edney and Dr. Jennifer Bryan, President of the Mississippi State Medical Association, both said access to healthcare is paramount to increasing the state’s overall health.
The issue of Medicaid expansion continues to swirl at the Capitol as lawmakers again debate “closing the coverage gap” for “working” Mississippians unable to afford health insurance and expanding the welfare program’s rolls which adds more burden on taxpayers.
Dr. Edney said too many Mississippians do not have access to primary care, instead relying on emergency rooms to provide the care they need. Residents who have access to physicians and healthcare providers in the form of outpatient care and those who get regular screenings are more likely to live longer.
“The reason we lead the nation in cancer deaths is because we have a low rate of screening,” Edney said. “Every 45-year-old in Mississippi should be having a screening or colonoscopy and that is not happening because access to care is a complicated issue in Mississippi.”
Dr. Bryan added that while in previous sessions MSMA has advocated for Medicaid expansion, she elaborated that physicians will always advocate for patients to have access to coverage so they can see a physician to get the care they need.
“But certainly, if these guys [lawmakers] can get creative and work with Washington and come up with a way to cover folks, this is the working core of our state we are talking about, we can continue to improve these numbers and get them into the economy and get them working,” Bryan said.
Attempts during the 2024 session to expand Medicaid met roadblocks between Senate and House negotiators. The Senate dug in on a work requirement while the House was willing to act without such employment guidelines. Governor Tate Reeves (R) has repeatedly voiced his opposition to expanding the welfare program, meaning even if the two chambers reached agreement, a veto proof majority would be necessary to overcome Reeves’ likely executive action.
Another area of concern shown in the latest report is the state’s current ranking as the leader in instances of firearm related deaths. While Mississippi is trending down in incidents of total fatal accidents, accidents are still the leading cause of death in children within Mississippi, Dr. Edney added
These and other preventable deaths occurring in the state are resulting in total years lost. Dr. Edney said that in 2024, the years of life lost due to preventable deaths in the state before the age of 75 totaled 195,377. The leading causes of death—heart disease, accidents and malignancies— are preventable through healthcare, he noted, saying that the number one killer of Mississippi’s adults is heart disease. Another aspect of the state’s health that needs to be addressed is obesity.
“We’re in better shape than we were seven or eight years ago, but not nearly where we need to be. But that also impacts diabetes, which also leads to hypertension and all of it together impacts heart disease,” Edney explained. “So, it’s not just trying to find people’s cholesterol numbers and fix it. You have to look at the entire patient. What is their lifestyle? What are their risk factors? Are they smokers? Our smoking rate is too high in Mississippi, our vaping rate is way too high in Mississippi.”
One way to start addressing the state’s obesity problem is to start with school-aged children.
“We have third and fourth graders who are obese. That is a dangerous sign for our population,” Edney said.
Vaccination rates were also part of the report card, an area where Mississippi is near the top of the rankings. The Magnolia State ranked third in school-aged vaccination rates nationwide.
While vaccinations for school-aged children are positive, Dr. Edney noted that vaccinations for children younger than 2 have dipped. As vaccination rates dip, the State Health Officer said that cases of pertussis, or whooping cough, increase. However, the state (97.5 percent) is above the national average (91 percent) in terms of vaccination rates.
Another trend reflected in the latest health report card was that the number of deaths in Mississippi for 2024 (34,040) outpaced the number of births (33,310).
With so many aspects impacting the health of the state, Dr. Edney said all of the pieces need to come together to make real change for Mississippians.
