Can better data improve health?

Health equity advocates and nonprofit organizations who work with Latino immigrants from indigenous backgrounds are urging Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill they say would improve health outcomes for Latino communities often overlooked in official state data.

SB 435, authored by Sen. Lena Gonzalez, a Long Beach Democrat, would require the state health department and the CalFresh division of the California Department of Social Services to collect and disaggregate more detailed data for “Latinx subgroups and Indigenous Mesoamerican nations.”