A Public Health Action Plan to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke

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Section 1. Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention: Time for Action

Introduction: Planning for the Prevention of Heart Disease and Stroke

Heart disease and stroke together exact a greater toll on America's health than any other condition.¹ Early death, disability, personal and family disruption, loss of income (more than $142 billion for 2003), and medical care expenditures (more than $209 billion) are some indicators of this toll. Young and old, women and men, rich and poor, and all racial and ethnic groups share this burden. Moreover, we can expect even greater numbers of heart attacks and strokes, increasing dependency (especially among the expanding population of older Americans), and mounting costs of care for victims and their families unless we as a nation renew and greatly intensify our public health effort to prevent these conditions. 

Heart attacks and strokes can be prevented or delayed if the knowledge we already have is put into action now. In fact, a broad coalition of national organizations and federal health agencies have already adopted a comprehensive goal for preventing heart disease and stroke as part of the Healthy People 2010 national health goals.² But having goals is only a beginning. Attaining these goals requires a plan with specific recommendations and action steps for implementing them. Today, we can build such an action plan on a solid knowledge base resulting from decades of research on the causes and prevention of heart disease and stroke, especially because of the support of NIH and the American Heart Association. 

For CDC, developing an action plan for cardiovascular health (CVH) is critical for two compelling reasons. First, CDC and NIH have been assigned responsibility as co–lead agencies to head the nation's effort to attain the Healthy People 2010 goal for preventing heart disease and stroke.² Second, Congress charged CDC in 1998 to develop and implement state–based cardiovascular disease prevention programs in every state and U.S. territory. These recent mandates create a need and responsibility to formulate a long–range strategy to guide the public health community in preventing heart disease and stroke. Accordingly, in December 2001, CDC initiated a planning process that included an intensive series of expert consultations as the basis for developing this Action Plan.

Next Section: Heart Disease and Stroke: Scope, Burden, Disparities, and a Forecast

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Date last reviewed: 05/12/2006
Content source: Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion