Environmental Justice & Health Equity Data | Vermont Department of Health CLOSE Translations for you Environmental Justice & Health Equity Data Environmental Justice & Public Health Environmental Justice & Health Equity Data Heat and Houselessness Root Causes of Health Disparities Health disparities are significant and measurable differences in health that occur between groups of people. They can be caused by a number of factors, but are often driven by social and economic inequities. Examples of these root causes include systems of oppression, like systemic racism or discrimination. Other root causes include factors like unequal access to routine or preventive health care, unequal exposure to poorer quality housing, and unequal access to clean water, clean air or food. The reports on this page explore health disparities in hospitalization data for asthma, heart attacks and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Black or African American people living in Vermont are at least twice as likely to visit the emergency department for asthma than all other racial or ethnic groups. A lack of equal access to healthy housing, transportation and health care may explain this health disparity. Read the Racial and Ethnic Differences in Asthma Emergency Department Visits report Explore Hospitalization Data by Race The reports below are interactive, which means you can: Click on the tabs and buttons to navigate within the reports. Hover over or click on the graphs, tables and maps to learn more. Make the display bigger by clicking the button below. View in Full Screen More Information Tracking Asthma in Vermont Tracking COPD in Vermont Tracking Heart Attacks in Vermont Vermont Asthma Program Vermont Asthma Surveillance Data March 9, 2026