II 109th CONGRESS 1st Session S. 628 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES March 15, 2005 Mr. Lugar (for himself, Mr. Bingaman, Mr. Durbin, and Mr. Bunning) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To provide for increased planning and funding for health promotion programs of the Department of Health and Human Services.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Health Promotion Funding Integrated Research, Synthesis, and Training Act or the Health Promotion FIRST Act.

2.

Findings

Congress makes the following findings: (1) Lifestyle factors are responsible for almost half of the premature deaths in developed nations, and a large portion of the deaths in developing nations. (2) Lifestyle factors are a primary cause of the 6 leading causes of death in the United States, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, accidents, and diabetes, which account for almost 75 percent of all deaths in the United States. (3) A significant portion of the health disparities in the United States are caused by lifestyle factors, which could be improved by health promotion programs. (4) The United States is experiencing epidemics in diabetes and obesity among adults and children, at the same time a majority of the population is sedentary and eats an unhealthy diet. (5) Health promotion programs have been shown to be effective in improving health knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and conditions, and delaying disability in older age. (6) Per capita medical care costs in the United States are more than double those of all but 2 other countries in the world, yet the United States ranks 24th in terms of disability adjusted life expectancy, infant mortality, and other positive lifestyle measures. (7) Medical care costs are second only to education in State government budgets. (8) Lifestyle factors are responsible for at least 1/4 of employer’s medical care costs in the United States. (9) Health promotion programs have been shown to be effective in reducing medical costs and enhancing productivity. (10) Significant gaps exist in the basic and applied research base of health promotion regarding how to best reach and serve people of color, low-income people, people with little formal education, children, and older adults, how to create long-term health improvements, how to create supportive environments, and how to address gender issues. More focused research can reduce these gaps. (11) Significant gaps exist between the best and the typical health promotion programs. Better synthesis and dissemination of results can reduce these gaps. (12) The genomic revolution will soon allow genetic information to be used to identify individual susceptibility to common disorders such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and respiratory diseases, and the most effective method to prevent many of these diseases will be health promotion. (13) Health promotion is the most effective strategy to achieve a majority of the major objectives in Healthy People 2010 Objectives for the United States developed by the Department of Health and Human Services. (14) A significant increase in demand for health promotion programs is expected in the next decade and a stable infrastructure must be in place to ensure continual development of the health promotion science base to be able to service this demand effectively. (15) Health promotion is the art and science of motivating people to enhance their lifestyles to achieve complete health, not just the absence of disease. Complete health involves a balance of physical, mental, and social health. (16) Health promotion programs focus on practices such as exercising regularly, eating a nutritious diet, maintaining a healthy weight, managing stress, avoiding dangerous substances such as tobacco and illegal drugs, drinking alcohol in moderation or not at all, driving safely, being wise consumers of health care, and a number of other health related practices. (17) The most effective health promotion programs include a combination of strategies to increase awareness, facilitate behavior change, and develop cultures and physical environments that encourage and support healthy lifestyle practices. (18) Health promotion programs can be provided in family, clinical, child care, school, workplace, Federal, State, and community settings.

3.

Health promotion research and dissemination

The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: .