Healthy People 2020: Nation's vision for improving health and achieving health equity

The US Department of Health and Human Services will preview the fourth set of national disease prevention and health promotion objectives—Healthy People 2020—scheduled to be launched December 2010. Healthy People 2020 will mark the first time this national initiative has focused on the social and physical environmental factors that influence health. Since 1979, Healthy People has been used by the public health and healthcare communities to guide health planning and motivate action. The science-based and data-driven objectives identified by Healthy People define the Nation's public health priorities. Drawing from lessons learned in past efforts, guidance from nationally recognized leaders serving on the fully public-member Secretary's Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for 2020, and public comment, HHS has identified the specific objectives for the next decade and innovative online tools that will make the objectives meaningful and accessible to a larger more diverse array of users than in the past. HHS has undertaken the objective selection process in collaboration with a broad spectrum of Healthy People stakeholders. During this session, senior officials from HHS will preview the Healthy People 2020 objectives. They will explain the processes for developing specific objectives, establishing targets and ensuring the integrity and quality of the data. The panel will welcome comments from the audience and lead a discussion on how the new paradigm for Healthy People can be translated into action steps at the state, local and community levels as well as in academic, business, health care settings.