Healthy People 2010 Process: What’s Happening Now?

 By Jean Oxendine 

Office of Minority Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

Closing the Gap, Healthy People 2010 and Beyond • August/September 1998 

fter all that you’ve heard about Healthy People, you may be a 

bit confused by the process. You may also wonder how you A can do your part to help shape the objectives. To understand 

the role that you can play, it may be helpful to know how Healthy 

People 2010 got started. 

Healthy People was established as a result of a 1979 Surgeon 

General’s report titled, Healthy People: The Surgeon General’s Report on 

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. The report set out five 

national health goals to monitor progress and to motivate action to 

improve the Nation’s health. Released in 1980, national health objectives had initial targets for 1990. 

Healthy People 2000, which followed in 1990, is a comprehensive agenda with 319 objectives organized into 22 priority areas. The 

goals are to increase years of healthy life, reduce disparities in health 

among different population groups, and achieve access to preventive 

health services. 

Healthy People 2000 was developed by soliciting comments 

from more than 10,000 individuals and organizations. Ongoing 

involvement is ensured through the Healthy People Consortium—an 

alliance of 350 national membership organizations and 271 State 

public health, mental health, substance abuse, and environmental 

agencies. To date, 47 States, the District of Columbia, and Guam 

have developed their own Healthy People plans. Most states have 

modeled goals after the national objectives, and almost all have tailored them to their specific needs. 

Development of national health objectives for 2010 has already 

begun. Through focus groups, public meetings, and a Web site, people 

from across the country have been able to make contributions. 

Public involvement in Healthy People 2010 development is an 

essential component of the process. 

The first round of comments on Healthy People 2010 was held 

in the fall of 1997. On September 15, 1998, a draft of Healthy 

People 2010 will be published for public comment and will be available via the Internet until December 15, 1998. The Healthy People 

2010 home page, http://web.health.gov/healthypeople/, will enable 

the public to view and comment on the document electronically. 

Paper comments will also be accepted. Information on future events 

will be posted on the site as well. Healthy People 2010 will be released 

in January 2000. 

Progress Reviews 

As Assistant Secretary for Health and Surgeon General, Dr. David 

Satcher chairs the Healthy People 2000 progress reviews for the 22 

priority areas, and holds the lead responsibility for the review. He is 

assisted by members of the interagency work group for that priority 

area and invited state agency and private organization representatives. 

Specific population progress reviews document data issu

nd strategies to achieving the objectives, and 

tation efforts underway to reach population 

es, barriers, 

Progress reviews have been held for all four minority groups, 

with the Office of Minority Health and the Indian Health Service 

working as the lead agencies. Most recent and future progress reviews 

are: 

• Black Americans (10/98) 

• Adolescents (7/98) 

• Sexually Transmitted Diseases (6/98) 

• Women (5/98) 

• Substance Abuse (4/98) 

• Cancer (3/98) 

• Nutrition (2/98) 

• Tobacco (11/97) 

• People with Low Income (10/97) 

• Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (9/97) 

• HIV Infection (7/97) 

• Hispanic Americans (4/97) 

• Environmental Health (3/97) 

• Surveillance and Data Systems (2/97) 

• People with Disabilities (1/97) 

• American Indians/Alaska Natives (2/95) 

Reports of these meetings are posted on the Healthy People 2000 

Web site. 

Regional Meetings 

To facilitate the public comment process, five Regional Meetings 

will be held to gather feedback on the draft 2010 objectives. Individuals, communities, businesses, private and voluntary organizations 

are invited to comment on the draft objectives. 

Participants in the Regional Meetings may be individuals from: 

state and local agencies in the public health, mental health, and environment sectors, academia, businesses, the faith community, health 

care providers, advocacy groups, and community-based organizations, 

nonprofit and/or voluntary agencies. 

According to Sheila Fleckenstein, associate researcher, ODPHP, 

the regional meetings will provide a forum where state and local constituents can give feedback on the draft objectives; participants can 

interact with representatives from the government agencies responsible for development of Healthy People 2010; and sectors such as 

business, usually not involved in public health planning can participate in setting the Nation’s health agenda for the 21st century. 

Each regional meeting will begin with a half-day, afternoon session where participants will discuss the successes and challenges encountered in meeting goals for the year 2000, as well as critical issues 

to be faced in improving health by the year 2010. The second day 

will be a public hearing to solicit comments on the draft objectives. 

For information regarding meeting registration, call 1-800-367­

4725, or browse the Healthy People 2

healthypeople.

010 Web site: http://web.health.gov/ 

a implementargets. 

Office of Minority Health Resource Center U.S. Department of Health and Human Services