"Chronic Disease and Conditions in the Population: The Role of Epidemiological Assessment and the Public Policy"

The chronic diseases are the largest source of medical care costs, the leading causes of death, and the leading causes of disparity in life expectancy between the US and other developed countries. Our nation's ability to prevent or delay onset of these conditions and treat them effectively at relatively low cost are increasingly perceived as crucial to our long term economic competitiveness. Since some of the most important causes of these conditions(eg tobacco, obesity, alcohol) are affected heavily by public policy and community environments it can be expected that their prevention will require changes in policy. It is epidemiologic and other population science that is often the basis for understanding the relationship of these causes to health outcomes and in evaluating potential solutions, including those related to policy and community environment. The role of epidemiology and public health science in public policy has been a challenging discussion for our field. In this talk I will speak to the issues of measurement, disparity and societal context implications for epidemiology and public policy.