About the Office of Health Equity and Human Rights (OHEHR)

The mission of the New York State Department of Health Office of Health Equity and Human Rights is to improve health equity and reduce disparities across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups while leveraging data to inform policies and improve health outcomes.

Read more about the units within the DOH Office of Health Equity and Human Rights:

Advisory Committees and Stakeholder Groups

The Office of Health Equity and Human Rights and individual bureaus/units within OHEHR oversee various advisory committees and stakeholder groups.

Office of Health Equity and Human Rights

Overseen by the Office of Health Equity and Human Rights, the Community Stakeholder Council on Health Equity and Human Rights convenes community-based organizations and stakeholders to discuss and identify ways to advance health equity and human rights in the communities we serve.

Questions or comments about the Community Stakeholder Council on Health Equity and Human Rights should be directed to: ohehr@health.ny.gov.

AIDS Institute

There are a number of advisory groups, task forces, and community projects that are overseen by the AIDS Institute:

  • New York State AIDS Advisory Council
  • AIDS Advisory Council Ending the Epidemic (AAC ETE) Subcommittee
  • New York State Interagency Task Force on HIV/AIDS
  • New York State HIV Advisory Body (HAB)
  • Ending the Epidemic Regional Steering Committees
  • Faith Communities Project
  • Community Mobilization Programs
  • Office of Planning and Community Affairs

Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities Prevention

There are three stakeholder groups overseen by the Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities Prevention:

  • Health Equity Council: Formerly known as the Minority Health Council, the Health Equity Council works to achieve the goal of equal health and health care for all New Yorkers.
  • Racial Equity Working Group: New York State legislation A.5679-A/S.2987-A in the 2021-2022 Legislative Session declared racism as a public health crisis in New York State, and established the Racial Equity Working Group within the New York State Department of Health. The Racial Equity Working Group is charged with studying racism's impact on public health and making recommendations for legislative or other actions to reduce or eliminate racial and ethnic disparities.
  • Data Disaggregation Working Group: New York State legislation S.6639-A /A.6896-A in the 2021-2022 Legislative Session requires that every state agency, board, or commission that directly collects data on ethnic origin for residents of the state of New York would use separate categories for a number of Asian groups included but not limited to Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indonesian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan and Taiwanese. OMH HDP leads regular meetings with programs across the Department impacted by this legislation to develop consensus on how to operationalize parts of the legislation concerning inclusion of additional Asian ancestry categories.