Office of the Surgeon General

Public Health Priorities

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Disease Prevention

• Overview
• Overweight and Obesity
• Increasing Physical Activity
• HIV/AIDS
• Reduce Tobacco Use

Overview

What are the priorities?

• Overweight and Obesity
• Increasing Physical Activity
• HIV/AIDS
• Reduce Tobacco Use
• Preventing and Reducing Underage Drinking

Why are these priorities?

• Seven of 10 Americans who die each year die of a preventable chronic disease such as heart disease, diabetes and many forms of cancer.
• Tobacco-related illnesses are the leading cause of death and kill 438,000 people each year.
• Alcohol is the most widely used substance of abuse among America's youth, and each year approximately 5,000 people under 21 die as a result of underage drinking.

How can we solve/address these priorities?

• Eat healthy foods
• Be physically active
• Don't smoke
• Limit alcohol and avoid drugs

How is the Office of the Surgeon General/HHS helping?

• Through HHS initiatives such as Steps to a HealthierUS, Healthy Lifestyles & Disease Prevention, and the Small Steps Campaign, we are encouraging American families to take small, manageable steps within their current lifestyle — versus drastic changes — to ensure long-term health.
• In March 2007, the Surgeon General released a Call to Action to prevent and reduce underage drinking. The call was developed to expand public knowledge about underage drinking and to encourage action by individuals and organizations nationwide.
• In January 2008, the Surgeon General hosted the first HHS Childhood Overweight and Obesity Prevention Council meeting. The council will develop an action plan to optimize the benefits and impact of programs that prevent childhood overweight and obesity by facilitating interagency collaboration.

Overweight and Obesity

• Resources

  • Diet, Nutrition, and Eating Right

  • Dietary Guidelines for Americans

  • HealthierUS.gov

  • Steps to a HealthierUS Initiative

Increasing Physical Activity

• Resources

  • Exercise and Fitness

  • Fitness.gov

  • HealthierUS.gov

  • Steps to a HealthierUS Initiative

  • The Presidents Challenge

HIV/AIDS

• Resources

  • AIDS.gov

  • AIDS (MedlinePlus)

  • AIDS (healthfinder^®)

  • HIV (healthfinder^®)

Tobacco Use

• Resources
• The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General
• Women, Tobacco, and Cancer: An Agenda for the 21st Century, Report of the Women, Tobacco, and Cancer Working Group (July 2004)
• Tobacco Cessation - You Can Quit Smoking Now!
• Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act (U.S. Code)

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Eliminating Health Disparities

• Overview
• Resources

Overview

What is the priority?

• Eliminating the greater burden of death and disease from breast cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other illnesses in minority communities.

Why is this a priority?

• All Americans — regardless of their race, heritage or gender — should have access to good health information, health insurance and health services.

How can we solve/address this priority?

• We must work to increase access to health insurance and health services for the traditionally underserved.
• We must continue to conduct research into the reasons for health disparities and develop appropriate policies and outreach activities to close the gap.

How is the Office of the Surgeon General/HHS helping?

• We are expanding programs like Community Health Centers and the State Children's Insurance Program (S-CHIP).
• We are conducting additional research into the problem of health disparities through our research institutes such as the National Center on Minority Health and the National Cancer Institute.
• We are increasing public awareness and outreach through programs like The Heart Truth Campaign.

Resources

• Specific Populations

• healthfinder® Just for You

• Office of Minority Health

• Office on Women's Health

• Closing the Health Gap

• Office of Minority and Women's Health

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Improving Health Literacy

• Overview
• Resources

Overview

What is the priority?

• Improve the health literacy of all Americans. Health literacy is the ability of an individual to access, understand, and use health-related information and services to make appropriate health decisions.

Why is this a priority?

• More than 90 million Americans cannot adequately understand basic health information.
• People of all ages, races, and income and education levels are affected.

How can we solve/address this priority?

• Increase awareness within the medical community and among the general public about the importance of health literacy and the challenges presented by low health literacy.

How is the Office of the Surgeon General/HHS helping?

• Building a robust health information system that provides equitable access.
• Developing audience-appropriate information and support services for all segments of the population, especially under-served persons.
• Training health professionals in the science of communication and the use of communication technologies.
• Ensuring that Surgeon General communications are written in plain language that people can understand.

Resources

• Improving Health Literacy

• Easy-to-Read Publications(MedlinePlus)

• Easy-to-Read Publications (English - Food and Drug Adminsitration)

• Easy-to-Read Publications (Spanish - Food and Drug Administration)

• Health Literacy

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Public Health Preparedness

• Overview
• Resources

Overview

What are the priorities?

• Terrorism
• Emerging Infections
• Natural Disasters
• Mental Health and Resilience

Why are these priorities?

• Americans count on a strong public health system capable of meeting any emergency, whether it is an act of terrorism, an emerging infectious illness, or a weather disaster such as a hurricane or tornado.

How can we solve/address these priorities?

• Invest more resources in our public health system
• Develop partnerships between law enforcement, public health, and education agencies at all levels of government.

How is the Surgeon General's Office/HHS helping?

• Increased funding for bio-terrorism preparedness
• Research on biology bioterror-related agents
• Better food safety through import inspections
• Better public health and hospital planning and coordination
• Increased use of volunteers through the Medical Reserve Corps

Resources

• Disasters and Emergencies
• Bioterrorism
• Mental Health

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Last revised: January 18, 2008