Oregon Health Authority begins reporting new demographic data for monkeypox cases
PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) – The Oregon Health Authority on Wednesday began publishing monthly reports of monkeypox (hMPXV) case data by sexual orientation or gender identity, and by expanded categories of race and ethnicity.
Publication of the data, in consultation with OHA’s Equity and Inclusion Division (OEI), will help the agency better understand the diversity of the people living in Oregon, which will help it identify and address health disparities and support data justice in communities most affected by health disparities.
The monkeypox outbreak is the first communicable disease outbreak for which OHA is publicly reporting sexual orientation or gender identity (SOGI) data, and data from expanded race and ethnicity categories found in REALD, or race and ethnicity, language or disability. The data will be reported each month on OHA’s monkeypox (hMPXV) website.
“OHA has established a strategic goal to achieve health equity by 2030,” said Dean Sidelinger, M.D., health officer and state epidemiologist at OHA. “A critical component to meeting this goal is ensuring meaningful access to services for everyone in Oregon, regardless of their race, ethnicity, language, disability, or sexual orientation and gender identity. The REALD and SOGI data will help guide OHA and its partners in an equitable response to the monkeypox outbreak.”
In 2021, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 3159, which charged OHA with drafting and adding SOGI questions to the current data collection standards in OHA Oregon Administrative Rules; building a data collection system for both REALD and SOGI; and developing and implementing reporting requirements.
In 2018, OHA’s Equity and Inclusion Division convened a Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Data Collection Committee. The group consists of internal and external stakeholders who interact with the LGBTQ+ community and health systems, many of whom identify as LGBTQ+ themselves.
The Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 3159 in 2021, charging OHA with drafting and adding SOGI questions to the current data collection standards in OHA Oregon Administrative Rules, building a data collection system for both REALD and SOGI and developing and implementing reporting requirements. The SOGI Data Collection Committee draft data collection standards have been implemented in Oregon’s public health communicable disease data collection system known as Orpheus.
OHA and local public health partners have been collecting SOGI information from people diagnosed with monkeypox since the start of the outbreak in Oregon.
While the narrative of monkeypox in the United States has centered on cisgender gay men as the population most affected by the virus, this narrative does not reflect the full spectrum of people who have been affected by monkeypox. The SOGI will help illuminate the experiences of people with other gender identities and sexual orientations in the Oregon outbreak of monkeypox, Sidelinger said.
