FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
March 4, 2024

COLUMBIA, S.C. ― The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) has developed 12 online dashboards providing state- and county-level data on several important environmental and health topics. The S.C. Tracking Dashboards provide the public with available data, as well as trends over time. 

The S.C. Tracking Dashboards were created by DHEC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking (EPHT) team and were funded through an Environmental Public Health Tracking grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The dashboards use data collected by DHEC through cancer registries, birth defect reports, environmental monitoring, and the CDC, among other sources. 

“Making accurate and timely data available to communities has always been a priority for me, for DHEC, and for our many partner organizations across the state,” Virginie Daguise, PhD, Director of DHEC’s Bureau of Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention.

The dashboards cover the following: particulate matter in air, asthma, cancer, child lead, COPD, drinking water, heat-related illness, heart attack and stroke, life expectancy, Lyme disease, reproductive health, and unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, plus a link to the National Environmental Public Health Tracking webpage managed by the CDC. 

The dashboards are updated at least annually, or as more current data are available.  

“We hope South Carolinians take advantage of this data, as we’ve worked to provide it in a useful and meaningful way,” said Katie O’Shields, DHEC’s Division Director of Epidemiology, Analysis & Data Visualization. “Having these data sources at your fingertips should help local governments, schools and higher-learning institutions, businesses, elected officials, and all types of organizations learn more about the ways environmental topics and human health are interconnected.” 

These dashboards also are an additional tool for DHEC and community partners to use as part of ongoing efforts to identify health disparities. DHEC plans to add additional dashboards that focus on other health and environmental topics as well. 

The 12 online dashboards include individual navigation guides for how to use the dashboards and how to interpret the data as presented. There are also methods for submitting feedback that DHEC’s EPHT team will consider for making improvements to the dashboards’ presentations.  

Learn more about DHEC’s role in protecting public health as well as South Carolina’s natural resources at scdhec.gov. 

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