To begin to confront the challenges that Hispanics/Latinos face in this country, and to develop a plan to address our complex barriers to quality health care and services, the Surgeon General's landmark Hispanic/Latino initiative was born. This far reaching initiative, designed to unite the efforts of diverse Hispanic/Latino groups nationwide through the Office of the Surgeon General, was characterized by three main goals:

• To gather information on the health needs, concerns, and priorities of Hispanic/Latino Americans.
• To propose effective and realistic recommendations for addressing these needs.
• To provide a clear focus for coordinating the activities of the Department of Health and Human Services with those of the Hispanic/Latino community.

This report documents the activities and findings of the Initiative. As an unprecedented compendium of information, the report describes the status of Hispanic/Latino health in five regions of the United States, defines the challenges and priority issues encompassing our greatest disparities and barriers, and lists the recommendations related to Hispanic/Latino priorities.