For the most critical childhood vaccines, vaccination levels are nearly the same for preschool children of all racial and ethnic groups, narrowing a gap that was estimated to be as wide as 26 percentage points a generation ago. In working to make Healthy People 2010 a success, we all have a role to play health professionals, community leaders and individual citizens. Teachers and those of you in supervisory positions in health departments can use HP 2010 as a teaching tool. Its goals and objectives can help you redesign curricula or restructure work assignments. Some schools already use it as a textbook.
Researchers can use it as the foundation of a research agenda.
We have no baseline data on about a third of the 467 objectives, but people felt very strongly during the consultation that it was important to measure them from now on. We need help in identifying ways to measure many of these objectives. And we need to explore ways to credibly document health disparities by race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and for people with disabilities. These health objectives provide a framework that can serve as landmarks for federal, state and local policymakers in developing the most healthy policies policies that can improve not only a community s health but its quality of life, growth and sustainability. Finally, of course, individuals shoulder a great deal of responsibility for learning how to promote and maintain good health.