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Welcome to CDC

Welcome to The State of CDC, Fiscal Year 2008, our annual health protection impact report.

Each day at CDC, we try to imagine a safer, healthier world: a world where infants are born healthy and cared for, so as children, they can arrive at school safe, well-nourished, and ready to learn; a world in which teenagers have the information, motivation, and hope they need to make healthy choices about their lifestyles and behaviors; a world in which adults enjoy active and productive lives in safe communities where they can remain independent and engaged with family and friends throughout their senior years.

“Partnering for a Healthy World” is the theme of this year’s State of CDC report.

Imagining this safer, healthier world brings us closer to reaching our vision of “Healthy People in a Healthy World—Through Prevention.”

For over 60 years, CDC’s mission has been dedicated to protecting health and promoting quality of life through the prevention and control of disease, injury, and disability. We are committed to programs that reduce the health and economic consequences of the leading causes of death and disability, and programs that ensure a long, productive, and healthy life for all people.

CDC is our nation’s leading health protection agency.

We take our role very seriously, as CDC protects the health of Americans on many levels and in many arenas. We conduct surveillance on a wide range of health threats—from infectious diseases to bioterrorism to environmental hazards. When diseases break out around the globe, CDC responds at a moment’s notice, lending its expertise and resources to conduct outbreak investigations and provide technical assistance.

We also provide funding for state and local health departments, community based organizations, and academic institutions for a wide array of public health programs and research. Each day, Americans benefit from those activities through the safety and health tips we promote directly to the public, the training and education we offer our partners, and the guidance and recommendations we provide for health care providers.

So much has changed in the world since the CDC was founded in 1946. We have had to find new ways to carry out our mission and meet new threats head-on, whether a terrorist attack or the next global epidemic of an infectious disease like SARS or avian flu. As we look forward to the next 60 years and beyond, we will continue to position ourselves as the nation’s health protection leader.

To learn more about CDC, visit us on the web at www.cdc.gov.

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