HHS NEWS
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

For Immediate Release
December 28, 1999

NEW NATIONAL HEALTH GOALS TARGET RACIAL & ETHNIC
HEALTH DISPARITIES
Healthy People 2010 Sets Agenda For New Century

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala and Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General David A. Satcher will release the Healthy People 2010 initiative at the HHS-sponsored Partnerships for Health in the New Millennium conference at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C., from January 24-28, 2000. 

Healthy People 2010 contains broad-reaching national health goals for the first decade of the new century. One of the main goals of the initiative is the elimination of health disparities for all minority groups, including Native Americans and Alaskan Natives.

"Americans are living longer and are in better health than ever before. But not all Americans are sharing equally in this improvement," stated Secretary Shalala. "With Healthy People 2010 we are making health equity our goal, with one target for all populations groups, be they Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, or any other ethnic or cultural group." 

"In spite of all the medical breakthroughs in the later part of this century, we still see significant health disparities for minorities, including Native Americans and Alaskan Natives," stated Surgeon General Satcher. "I will be working with Native American and Alaskan Native communities so that everyone can reap the benefits of improved health. Healthy People 2010 is a framework for all Americans to use."

Healthy People 2010 addresses the scenarios and trends of the upcoming decade, including a larger, more diverse, aging population and a host of new health risks such as emerging infectious diseases. Healthy People 2010 objectives seeking to eliminate disparity include those that call for an increase in community-based programs that are culturally and linguistically appropriate; an increase in minority health professional graduates; and improved data gathering to better understand health disparities and service needs. 

Healthy People originated with a 1979 report by the U.S. Surgeon General that established five life-stage targets to be achieved over a 10-year period. Since then, Healthy People has set decade-long goals that have moved the nation from assessing health status to projecting and forecasting what is possible to achieve through preventive interventions and proven clinical preventive services. The initiative provides a time capsule snapshot of the progress of the health of the nation in the last part of the century. Recent data for about half of the objectives in the current initiative indicate a decrease in health disparity between Native Americans, Alaska Natives and the total population in such areas as smokeless tobacco, motor vehicles crashes, suicides and preventive services. However, significant disparities for Native Americans and Alaskan Natives remain in areas such as diabetes, women's health, alcoholism and substance abuse, family violence and maternal and child health, which will be addressed by Healthy People 2010. 

Currently most states and many localities use the Healthy People framework to guide local health policies and programs. Many will be releasing their own adapted versions of Healthy People 2010 throughout the coming years. Healthy People 2010 is the result of a broad consultation process, including unprecedented public response—over 11,000 comments on the draft document were received. Helping to guide the initiative is the Healthy People Consortium, a public-private alliance of over 350 national organizations and 270 state agencies. Organizations helping to guide the Healthy People initiative include the American Indian Health Care Board and the National Indian Council on Aging. 

Partnerships for Health in the New Millennium will examine the ever-expanding role of technology in promoting health and preventing disease. The conference is expected to draw a wide audience of over 1,500 public and private sector participants.

Conference sponsors include HHS Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the Office of Minority Health and many other HHS Agencies. Non-federal sponsors include the Academy for Educational Development, the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and the Annenberg School for Communication.

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For Partnerships for Health in the New Millennium media registration,
email partnerships@health.org, or go online to www.health.gov/partnerships.

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Updated: 05/01/08