Welcome to the Boston Public Health Commission website.
Our mission is to protect, promote, and preserve the health and well-being of all Boston residents, particularly the most vulnerable.
We strive to fulfill our mission through a wide range of health initiatives that target preventable disease and injury. Through the years, public health has made great strides when it comes to infant mortality, childhood immunization, cancer, heart disease, and tuberculosis, to name a few.
But there is still work to do. These days of economic stress and fear of new and unknown viruses and disease have reminded many of the importance of a sound public health system. Public health is here for the city of Boston, now more than ever.
To address some of our city’s most pressing public health issues, the Commission has adopted three overarching goals for the next five years:
1. Reduce the low birth-weight rate among Boston infants and reduce the gap between the White and Black LBW rate by 25%. Currently, 12.7% of Black babies are born at a low birth weight whereas 8.0% of White babies are born at a low birth weight. Read more >>
2. Reduce obesity rates among Boston residents and reduce the gap between White and Black obesity rates by 30% for school-aged children and 20% for adults. Our data show that 32% of Black adults are obese versus 17% of White adults. Read more >>
3. Reduce Chlamydia rates among Boston residents 15 through 24 years of age and reduce the gap in Chlamydia rates between Black, Latino and White residents 15 through 24 years of age by 25%. Read more >>
Thank you for visiting our website. I hope you find it to be a useful source of public health information for you and your family.
Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd
Executive Director
Learn more about Dr. Ferrer.
For general questions about the Boston Public Health Commission, please email us at info@bphc.org.
Boston Public Health Commission Organizational Chart and Site Map