Prevention should be a priority

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) convened a meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, to learn more about prevention and public health. Dr. Don Wright from the Department of Health and Human Services testified that the US needs a comprehensive system to promote and protect those who are well. He said that emphasizing prevention will help to keep healthy people healthy and will help to keep communities healthy. Further, he urged that we must build a culture of wellness and that prevention is value added.

Senator Harkin asked why the Office of Prevention is not visible on the HHS organization chart and notes that it should be a top priority. He noted that prevention touchesmany other topics including agriculture, transportation, education and nutrition. Senator Harkin mentioned that states are doing good things locally regarding prevention.

Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) mentioned his concern that federal funding is allocated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for chronic disease research and to the Administration on Aging for prevention but that no comprehensive plan exists to determine what people need to know and how to get the message to them. He suggested that the federal government needs a plan to compete with the private sector … we need to be advertising about like McDonald’s.

Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) asked about the effectiveness of immunizations. Dr. Wright said that the number of recommended immunizations has increase over the years, but he did not have specific data with him. Senator Reed recommended hat we prioritize prevention activities to promote those with the greatest impact. He suggested information about nutrition, physical activity, medical screenings and avoiding risky behaviors including tobacco use prevention and cessation. He advised that money spent on prevention will not result in immediate savings. However, preventing chronic diseases saves money, improves quality of life and increases productivity he said.

To learn more about prevention and health care costs visit the Trust for America’s Health report available at http://healthyamericans.org/report/prevention08/