The new 2001 Census question set on cultural characteristics: is it useful for the monitoring of the health status of people from ethnic groups in Britain?

The health of minority ethnic groups has been accorded a priority position in the British government's strategy to improve the population's health, including the provision of the necessary information to address inequalities. The independent Acheson Inquiry has also called for improvements in the capacity to monitor inequalities in health of ethnic groups which requires the use of appropriate ethnic group categories. The new 2001 Census question set includes a substantially revised ethnic group question and a new question on religion which address some of the shortcomings in the 1991 Census question. However, the token breakdown of the white group and its unsatisfactory capture of those of Irish origin, the use of Indian subcontinent groups that ignore ethno-religious differences and have little saliency amongst those being described, and the omission in Scotland of a subdivided white group and the religion question, are important deficiencies. The use of a few pan-ethnic racial groups in the proposed census tables is a major drawback. It is important that these changes are widely debated.