[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 155 (Friday, August 12, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47206-47207]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-16047]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Solicitation for Written Comments on the Proposed Changes to 
Healthy People 2010 Through the Midcourse Review

AGENCY: Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the 
Secretary, Office of Public Health and Science.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 200u.

SUMMARY: The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), 
Office of Public Health and Science (OPHS), U.S. Department of Health 
and Human Services (HHS), acting on behalf of HHS and its lead 
agencies, as part of the process of conducting the Midcourse Review of 
Healthy People 2010, is soliciting written comments for consideration 
on changes and revisions proposed to the Healthy People 2010 
objectives. Healthy People 2010, a set of national health objectives, 
was published by HHS in 2000. The Midcourse Review (MCR), conducted at 
the midpoint of the decade, is the process through which the Healthy 
People 2010 objectives are reviewed by HHS, the lead agencies, and 
other experts, to assess the data trends during the first half of the 
decade, consider new science and available data, and make changes that 
ensure that Healthy People 2010 remains current, accurate, and 
relevant. The proposed revisions take the form of: establishing 
baselines and targets for formerly developmental objectives (i.e., 
objectives that had no baseline data or target when Healthy People 2010 
was released in 2000); changes to the language of objectives and 
subobjectives; deletions of objectives and subobjectives; new 
subobjectives; and baseline and target revisions.

DATES: Written comments must be submitted via the Internet Web site by 
the close of business Eastern Standard Time on September 15, 2005.

ADDRESSES: The proposed revisions to Healthy People 2010 objectives can 
be viewed and commented on at http://www.healthypeople.gov/data/midcourse.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:  E-mail the Office of Disease 
Prevention

[[Page 47207]]

and Health Promotion, Office of Public Health and Science, U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services, at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: HHS has led a nationwide process 
to formulate and monitor national disease prevention and health 
promotion objectives since 1979. The Healthy People initiative began in 
1979 with Healthy People: The Surgeon General's Report on Health 
Promotion and Disease Prevention, which presented general goals for 
reducing preventable death and injury in different age groups by 1990. 
These general goals were followed in 1980 by the publication of 
Promoting Health/Preventing Disease: Objectives for the Nation, which 
identified five overarching goals supported by a set 226 objectives 
organized in 15 strategic areas to be achieved by 1990. The five goals 
targeted mortality and morbidity for five distinct age groups.
    In 1990, HHS published Healthy People 2000, which established three 
overarching goals and contained 319 objectives in 22 priority areas. 
The Healthy People 2000 goals were (1) increase the span of healthy 
life, (2) reduce health disparities, and (3) provide access to 
preventive health services.
    Building on the experiences of the first two decades of objectives, 
public hearings, and a public comment process that generated more than 
11,000 public comments, in January 2000, HHS issued Healthy People 
2010, the third generation of 10-year disease prevention and health 
promotion objectives for the Nation. Healthy People 2010 is a 
comprehensive set of national health objectives, based on science, for 
the first decade of the 21st century. It identifies two overarching 
goals (i.e., increase the quality and years of healthy life, and 
eliminate health disparities) that are supported by 467 objectives in 
28 focus areas. For more information about Healthy People 2010 and its 
history, visit the Healthy People 2010 Internet Web site at http://www.healthypeople.gov.
    Through the Healthy People 2010 Midcourse Review, the lead agencies 
for the 28 Healthy People 2010 focus areas have proposed revisions to 
the Healthy People 2010 objectives that are now available for public 
review and comment. Public comment on the objectives will be considered 
by the appropriate lead agencies. ODPHP, within the OPHS, serves as the 
overall coordinator for the dissemination and processing of the public 
comments.
    A new HHS report entitled Healthy People 2010 Midcourse Review, 
featuring the revisions and a status report on progress from 2000 to 
2005 toward achieving the targets for the year 2010, is scheduled for 
publication in 2006.
    Electronic Comments: By this notice, on behalf of HHS and its lead 
agencies, ODPHP is soliciting the submission of electronic comments for 
consideration on changes and revisions proposed to the Healthy People 
2010 objectives as a result of the Midcourse Review process. The public 
is invited to comment through the Internet Web site on: Objectives and 
subobjectives that are moving from developmental to measurable 
objective status; objectives and subobjectives with revisions to their 
overall language; the deletion of objectives and subobjectives; the 
addition of new subobjectives; the establishment of new baselines, 
targets, and target setting methods; and changes to data sources. 
Written comments received in response to this notice will be reviewed 
and considered by the lead agencies for the objectives to which they 
pertain.

    Dated: August 12, 2005.
Penelope S. Royall,
CAPT, USPHS, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Disease Prevention 
and Health Promotion).
[FR Doc. 05-16047 Filed 8-11-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-32-U