[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 173 (Tuesday, September 8, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47501-47502]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-23970]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Office of the Secretary


Healthy People 2010 Objectives: Draft for Public Comment

AGENCY: DHHS/OS/Office of Public Health and Science, Office of Disease 
Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP).

ACTION: Call for comments on the draft national health objectives in 
Healthy People 2010.

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SUMMARY: During the fall of 1998, the Department of Health and Human 
Services is soliciting comments on Healthy People 2010 Objectives: 
Draft for Public Comment, which identifies the national health 
promotion and disease prevention objectives for the next decade. 
Individuals and organizations are encouraged to comment on the draft 
objectives in one or more of the following three ways: (1) in writing, 
by submission through the mails, courier service, or the Internet; (2) 
in person, at one of five regional meetings scheduled at locations 
around the country; (3) in person, at the annual fall meeting of the 
national Healthy People Consortium.

DATES: The period for public comment opens at 9:00 a.m. EDT on 
September 15, 1998, and closes at 5:00 p.m. EST on December 15, 1998. 
Five regional meetings on Healthy People 2010 are scheduled on: October 
5-6 in Philadelphia, PA; October 21-22 in New Orleans, LA; November 5-6 
in Chicago, IL; December 2-3 in Seattle, WA; and December 9-10 in 
Sacramento, CA. Public comments on the Healthy People 2010 objectives 
will be accepted and recorded on the second day of each meeting. The 
Healthy People Consortium meeting is on November 12-13, 1998 in 
Washington, D.C. at the Capital Hilton hotel. A public hearing will be 
held during the afternoon of November 13, 1998. Pre-registration for 
these meetings is required. Registration forms and additional 
information about the meetings can be obtained by calling 1-800-367-
4725. Seating is limited. In the event that interpretive services for 
the hearing-impaired are required, please indicate these special needs 
on the registration form.

AVAILABILITY OF DRAFT DOCUMENT: The draft document Healthy People 2010 
Objectives: Draft for Public Comment will be for sale by the U.S. 
Government Printing Office as stock #017-001-00537. All orders must be 
prepaid. To order, call (202) 512-1800; FAX (202) 512-2250; or send 
orders to--Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 
15250-7954. The full document and additional background information are 
also available on the Healthy People 2010 World Wide Web site, http://
web.health.gov/healthypeople.

ADDRESSES: The mailing address for written comments is: Attention: 
Healthy People 2010 Objectives, Office of Disease Prevention and Health 
Promotion, Department of Health and Human Services, Room 738-G Hubert 
H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 
20201. Comments may also be submitted electronically through the 
Healthy People 2010 World Wide Web site, http://web.health.gov/
healthypeople.


[[Page 47502]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Office of Disease Prevention and 
Health Promotion, Room 738-G Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 
Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, (202) 205-8583.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Background

    In 1979, the Department of Health and Human Services began an 
initiative using objectives for health promotion and disease prevention 
to improve the health of people living in the United States. The first 
set of national health targets was published in 1979 in Healthy People: 
The Surgeon General's Report on Health Promotion and Disease 
Prevention. This report proposed five goals to be achieved by 1990, 
including the reduction of mortality among four different age groups 
and the increase of independence among older adults. The goals were 
supported by objectives that were released in 1980 with 1990 targets. 
Healthy People 2000, the second and current national prevention 
initiative, reflects the progress and experience of 10 years, as well 
as an expanded science base and surveillance system. An extensive 
network of voluntary and professional organizations, businesses, and 
individuals collaborated in the design of the document's framework. 
Healthy People 2000 has three broad goals--increasing the span of 
health life, reducing health disparities, and achieving access to 
clinical preventive services--and is organized into 22 priority areas.

Structure of Health People 2010

    The Healthy People 2010 process builds on Healthy People 2000. Two 
overarching goals are proposed: (1) Increase quality and years of 
health life, and (2) eliminate health disparities. The first goal 
continues the year 2000 goal and emphasizes increasing the quality and 
wellness of life years, not just life expectancy. The second goal 
expands the year 2000 goal of reducing health disparities by calling 
for the elimination of these disparities. Select populations are 
targeted in many objectives to identify disparities in health status, 
health risk, or service delivery. The proposed focus areas are 
analogous to, and for the most part use the same names as, the Healthy 
People 2000 priority areas. The term ``focus area'' was chosen to avoid 
any implication of prioritization. New focus areas have been added in 
response to changes in health care and public health during the last 
decade and to anticipated changes in coming years. These new focus 
areas include: (1) Access to quality health services; (2) arthritis, 
osteoporosis, and chronic back conditions; (3) disability and secondary 
conditions; (4) health communication; (5) public health infrastructure; 
and (6) respiratory diseases. The focus areas are organized under the 
headings ``Promote Healthy Behaviors,'' ``Promote Healthy and Safe 
Communities,'' ``Prevent and Reduce Diseases and Disorders,'' and 
``Improve Systems of Personal and Public Health.''

Objectives for Healthy People 2010

    The 2010 document has two types of objectives, measurable and 
developmental. Measurable objectives provide direction for action. They 
have baselines that use reliable data derived from currently 
established, nationally recognized data systems. Baseline data provide 
the point from which the target for 2010 can be set. Whenever possible, 
objectives will be measured with national systems that either build on, 
or are comparable with, state and local data systems. An example of a 
measurable objective in the Maternal, Infant, and Child Health focus 
area is ``Reduce the infant mortality rate to no more than 5 per 1,000 
live births.'' The most recent data indicate that the infant mortality 
rate was 7.6 per 1,000 live births in 1995, as recorded by National 
Vital Statistics System, the data source from the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.
    Developmental objectives describe a desired outcome or improvement 
in health status. However, current surveillance systems do not provide 
data to measure these objectives. The purpose of developmental 
objectives is to identify areas that are important to achieving 
improved health for Americans and to stimulate the development of data 
systems to measure them. An example of a developmental objective is 
``Increase the proportion of infants aged 18 months and younger who 
receive recommended primary care services at appropriated intervals.'' 
Baseline data to measure such an objective are not currently available.

Purpose of Public Comment

    The year 2010 goals and objectives need to address priorities for 
improving the health of the Nation and must be meaningful and useful 
for many stakeholders, including the general public. Comments on the 
2010 objectives received by ODPHP by the three ways identified above 
will be assigned for review to agencies of HHS. A listing of these lead 
agencies is contained in the 2010 draft document. Public comments will 
be used to refine the draft 2010 document into its final form, which is 
scheduled for release in January 2000.

    Dated: August 25, 1998.
David Satcher,
Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General.
[FR Doc. 98-23970 Filed 9-4-98; 8:45 am]
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