Mississippi received low marks for its infant and maternal mortality rates and high marks for declining HIV, syphilis and congenital syphilis rates on its public health report card for 2025.
State Health Officer Dr. Edney celebrated Mississippi’s improved state ranking — rising to 48th in the country in America’s Health Rankings, up from 49th last year at a press conference Wednesday.
“The health of our population is not great, but it’s better than it was,” Edney said.
America’s Health Rankings analyze 99 health measures and is released annually by the United Health Foundation — the philanthropic arm of UnitedHealth Group, the most profitable health care company in the U.S. The state’s annual report, which reviews the state’s health indicators and highlights areas of progress and those in need of improvement, is produced by the Mississippi Department of Health and the Mississippi State Medical Association.
Mississippi has the highest rate of premature death, or deaths that could be prevented with timely and effective health care, in the nation. However, the estimated years of life lost to preventable deaths in the state declined this year. The report card estimates that about 190,000 years of life were lost before age 75 due to preventable deaths, like smoking-related deaths or deaths related to untreated chronic illnesses, in 2025.
Many of these lost years of life were tied to infant deaths, Edney said. He said lowering the state’s infant mortality rate — which is higher than anywhere else in the nation — is the Mississippi State Department of Health’s top priority. The agency declared a public health emergency over the infant mortality rate last year.
Mississippi also has high rates of preventable deaths connected to heart disease, hypertension, obesity and diabetes and higher rates of firearm deaths than any other state in the country.
High obesity rates — impacting 40% of adults — are a significant driver behind the state’s high rates of hypertension, diabetes, heart disease and preterm births, Edney said. Heart disease is the state’s leading cause of death.
“As we work to improve obesity, you will see all these other indicators improve as well,” Edney said.
Mississippi saw notable progress in some areas of public health. There has been a reduction in opioid-related overdose deaths in the state for several years, Edney reported, bringing the state to the 10th lowest opioid overdose rate in the nation in 2024. HIV, syphilis and congenital syphilis rates also fell.
“Believe me, Alabama is looking over their shoulder at us today,” said Edney. Alabama ranked 47th in the state health rankings, outperforming Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.
Mississippi has long led the country in child vaccination rates, but remained in third place in 2025, the same ranking as last year, following a 2023 federal ruling that decreed parents can opt out of vaccinating their children for school due to religious beliefs.
Public Health and Human Services Vice Chair Rep. Kevin Felsher, a Republican from Biloxi, said constituents can expect to see lawmakers focus on legislation to support cancer and diabetes screenings and proactive health care for Mississippians.
Felsher proposed legislation this session to require health insurance plans to cover at-home colon cancer screening tests.
“Our goal, make no mistake about it, is to make Mississippi’s health care system what Mississippi’s education system has become,” Felsher said.
Edney said the health department supports legislation to create the Fetal and Infant Mortality Review Panel, which would review the deaths of infants up to one year of age independently from the agency’s Child Death Review Panel and establish strategies to prevent infant deaths.
“Mortality reviews really inform our work,” he said. “It tells us what’s wrong and where the pain points are and what we need to do to do better.”
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