Preventive care highlighted as key to improving health

Diabetes, obesity and tobacco are high on the HHS secretary's hit list.

By Markian Hawryluk, AMNews staff. May 20, 2002.

Washington -- Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson spent a week in early May highlighting the benefits -- for both the nation's health and its pocketbook -- of disease prevention.

Thompson has made preventive health a top priority for his administration. President Bush's budget proposed $20 million for a new program called Healthy Communities that would support community-based prevention measures.

"The No. 1 issue for Americans really is health care and health care costs," Thompson told reporters at a breakfast meeting in May. He said the nation spends $270 billion a year to treat diabetes, obesity and the effects of tobacco use -- more money than is spent on Medicare. Yet all three conditions can be controlled and handled by individuals, the secretary said.

Thompson called on private insurers to promote healthy lifestyles with their members and announced plans to call together a private meeting with health plans to discuss preventive health measures.

The weeklong focus on preventive strategies touched on a number of health issues, including:

• Obesity: Thompson called on families, communities and businesses to promote greater physical activity among children. The secretary highlighted a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that showed marked increases in public health problems stemming from obesity. The study found that obesity-related annual hospital costs increased threefold from 1979 to 2000. However, only 25% of schools nationwide had physical education classes, Thompson said.