On June 16, the Obama Administration released the National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy. Created by the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council, a group of 17 federal agencies, in consultation with the public and an advisory group of outside experts, the strategy is a comprehensive plan to promote better health and healthy lifestyles on a national scale. It recognizes that good health comes from quality medical care along with clean air and water, safe workplaces and healthy foods.
“The National Prevention Strategy, called for under the Affordable Care Act, will help us transform our health care system away from a focus on sickness and disease to a focus on prevention and wellness,” said Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services. It includes actions that the government, the public, and private partners can take to improve health and fitness, reducing the demand placed on the healthcare system.
The strategy outlines four strategic directions for improving the nation’s health:
- Building Healthy and Safe Community Environments
- Empowering People to Make Healthy Choices
- Eliminating Health Disparities
- Expanding Quality Preventive Services in Both Clinical and Community Settings, which includes supporting and implementing coordinated care models, such as hemophilia treatment centers.
Within these strategic areas, the strategy focuses on seven priorities that are most likely to reduce the causes of preventable death and major illness:
- Tobacco-free living
- Preventing drug abuse and excessive alcohol use
- Healthy eating
- Active living
- Injury- and violence-free living
- Reproductive and sexual health
- Mental and emotional well-being
In the future, the strategy will guide how resources are allocated and how programs are funded.
More information on the National Prevention Strategy can be found at: http://www.healthcare.gov/center/councils/nphpphc/index.html.
