Ethnic minority groups often have better health than the majority of Scotland’s white population, according to a new report.
Findings from the Health in our Multi-ethnic Scotland report indicate that south Asians from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka living here are healthier than Scots.
But health experts say more information is needed about ethnic minority groups in Scotland as they know "surprisingly little" about the health status of people in these groups.
A health survey of ethnic minorities could now be carried out as well as the establishment of a new group to co-ordinate research on major health problems.
The report recommends making better data collection a top priority including gathering data on ethnic identity on death certificates as it is not recorded on health service records.
It said: "Only 15% of hospital admission records and 18% of cancer registration data currently have an ethnic code."
But the report said action was required to tackle higher rates of coronary artery disease and diabetes amongst south Asians compared to the general population.
Dr Laurence Gruer, director of public health science at NHS Health Scotland, chaired the Scottish Ethnicity and Health Research Strategy Working Group, which produced the report.
He said: "It's been known for a long time that our ethnicity - the mix of our ancestry and other factors such as culture, religion and diet - can have a big influence on our health.
"If our recommendations are followed, we are confident Scotland will be in a much better position both to understand the particular health needs of our ethnic minority groups, and to benefit the whole population."
The report identified five priorities for future research including recording the ethnic identity of every person registered with the NHS.
Chief medical officer for Scotland, Dr Harry Burns, said he welcomed the report and "strongly supported" the working group's conclusions that the top priority must be to improve the quality of data collection.
