1979
- Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (report) released
Background
Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention provides the first set of national health objectives for improving the health of all Americans. In the report, goals were set to be achieved by 1990 for five major stages of life: (1) infants from birth to age 1, (2) children ages 1–14, (3) adolescents and young adults ages 15–24, (4) adults ages 25–64, and (5) older adults ages 65 and above. The report also identifies action for health in three areas: preventive health services, health protection, and health promotion. Within the health-protection area, fluoridation of community water supplies was identified.
“With tooth decay affecting 95 percent of Americans, it is the most common health problem, costing an estimated $2 billion yearly for treatment. Adverse consequences include pain, infection, and tooth loss.”
Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
In 1980, Promoting Health/Preventing Disease: Objectives for the Nation was released as a companion document to Healthy People. The companion document provides a review of the 15 focus areas. For each area, the document describes the nature and extent of the problem, including health implications, status, and trends; prevention and promotion measures; specific national objectives, principle assumptions that underlie the framing of the objective; and data necessary for tracking progress.
Impact
In 1987, the U.S. Public Health Service, with the assistance of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, began holding regional hearings across the country. Public testimony was collected at these hearings and at other sessions conducted in conjunction with national health organizations. The Healthy People 2000 Consortium formed, initially with 150 organizations that were engaged in the development and support of the national health objectives. The consortium later grew to encompass 333 organizations, including all state and territorial health departments and national membership organizations, such as the American Public Health Association.
Released in 1990, Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives established the foundation for a 10-year agenda for national health objectives. New objectives are released every decade.
Sources
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. 1980. Promoting Health/Preventing Disease: Objectives for the Nation. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service. 1991. Healthy People 2000: National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service.
U.S. Public Health Service, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General. 1979. Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s Report on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare; Public Health Service; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General.
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