Public Health Resources

The BRFSS, the world's largest telephone survey, tracks health risks in the United States. Information from the survey is used to improve the health of the American people.

The CDC produces, funds, collects, and reports on data, analyses, and other types of valuable information on a wide range of health-related topics.

Be advised that DataFerrett was decommissioned and taken offline on June 30, 2020, as we continue streamlining and improving our web applications for data access.Try these other data access tools.

A resource portal for health services research developed by the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM).

Healthy People 2030 sets data-driven national objectives to improve health and well-being over the next decade. Healthy People 2030 includes 358 core — or measurable — objectives as well as developmental and research objectives.

ICPSR maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, and offers training in quantitative methods to facilitate effective data use. To ensure that data resources are available to future generations of scholars, ICPSR preserves data, migrating them to new storage media as changes in technology warrant. In addition, ICPSR provides user support to assist researchers in identifying relevant data for analysis and in conducting their research projects.

IPUMS provides census and survey data from the U.S. and around the world. These data include U.S. Census and American Community Survey microdata, census microdata covering nearly 100 countries, health survey data for Africa and Asia, and U.S. health survey data from NHIS and MEPS.

The U.S. Census Bureau's new dissemination platform, containing data once found on DataFerrett. See DataFerrett's description above for more details.

A key portal to health and health services statistics for the United States. Developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Provides a searchable database of the entire history of US infectious disease surveillance reports (1888-2013) created by the CDC's Nationally Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS). Project Tycho is maintained by the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

An online research tool designed to provide quick and easy access to current and historical census data and demographic information. Create custom tables and maps from the very first Decennial Census to the latest Census, the American Community Survey, and the Religious Congregations and Membership Study. Very easy-to-use interface like the original American Fact Finder.

Provides links to census information including the current population count, current economic indicators, online mapping tools, and profiles of states & counties. The site may be searched by keyword or browsed alphabetically by subject.

USDA’s comprehensive source of food composition data with multiple distinct data types.

Provides global statistics on cancer from the International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Eurostat is the statistical office of the European Union and provides statistics that enable comparisons between countries and regions. Includes data on health, social conditions, demographics, economics, the environment, etc.

Provides world-wide statistics relating to agriculture, forestry & fisheries, land & water resources & use, climate, environment, population, gender, nutrition, poverty, rural development, education & health, etc.

Global data on HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB, and other key health and socio-economic indicators. The data are displayed in tables, charts, and color-coded maps and can be downloaded for custom analyses.

The Global Health Observatory theme pages provide data and analyses on global health priorities. Each theme page provides information on global situation and trends highlights, using core indicators, database views, major publications and links to relevant web pages on the theme. The WHO Statistical Information System (WHOSIS) has been incorporated into the Global Health Observatory (GHO) to provide you with more data, more tools, more analysis and more reports.

ICPSR maintains and provides access to a vast archive of social science data for research and instruction, and offers training in quantitative methods to facilitate effective data use. To ensure that data resources are available to future generations of scholars, ICPSR preserves data, migrating them to new storage media as changes in technology warrant. In addition, ICPSR provides user support to assist researchers in identifying relevant data for analysis and in conducting their research projects.

IPUMS provides census and survey data from the U.S. and around the world. These data include U.S. Census and American Community Survey microdata, census microdata covering nearly 100 countries, health survey data for Africa and Asia, and U.S. health survey data from NHIS and MEPS.

The Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program has collected, analyzed, and disseminated accurate and representative data on population, health, HIV, and nutrition through more than 400 surveys in over 90 countries.

Provides world-wide, child-related statistics in areas including child survival & health, child nutrition, maternal health, newborn care, water & sanitation, education, child protection, child disability, early childhood development, HIV/AIDS, etc.

Provides toxicological data on substances based on health effect, chemical class, and audience (including health care providers and toxicological professionals). Produced by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Comprehensive Epidemiologic Data Resource (CEDR) is the Department of Energy's (DOE) electronic database comprised of health studies of DOE contract workers and environmental studies of areas surrounding DOE facilities. Current CEDR holdings include more than 76 studies of over 1 million workers at 31 DOE sites. Access to these data is at no cost to the user.

A single point of access to selected U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) databases. Provides access to information, including maps, about environmental activities that may affect air, water, and land anywhere in the United States.

The Right-to-Know Network provides free access to numerous databases, text files, and conferences on the environment, housing, and sustainable development. With this resourse you can identify specific factories and their environmental effects; analyze reinvestment by banks in their conmmunities; and assess people and communities affected.