For 2022, Alabama’s infant mortality rate was reported to be 6.7 deaths per 1,000 births, the single-lowest rate since the state began tracking such data in the mid-1960s, according to a new report.

For Black Alabamians, however, infant mortality rates had actually increased between 2021 and 2022, further widening the gap in health outcomes for Black and white Alabamians.

The new data comes from the 2022 Infant Mortality report, which was commissioned and released last week by the Alabama Department of Public Health during its board meeting in Montgomery. Infant mortality rates are measured by the number of infants who die before reaching their first birthday, and according to State Health Officer Scott Harris, are the best method to measure the overall health of a society.

“There are so many different factors that are tied up in infant mortality that you can use (it) and compare it from country to country, state to state, jurisdiction to jurisdiction and really get a good sense of the overall health of that population just based on one number,” Harris said during the meeting.

Regarding the overall infant mortality rate, Harris praised the new record low number, saying that the rate was “clearly headed in the right way.” His praise, however, was short lived, as he went on to note the growing disparities between white and Black Alabamians.

“The improvements in infant mortality, by and large, are occurring among white Alabamians,” he said. “The numbers that we see among Black Alabamians, unfortunately, have not changed like we’d like. When you look at rates, unfortunately we see a lot of our more rural counties as the ones that have the highest rates.”