Abstract
United States has an elaborate health policy in place for the general health of its citizens. The Healthy People initiative is a direct result of the health concerns of the US population since 1979. Healthy People 2010 and Healthy People 2020 are the latest extensions to this initiative. Following is an article on the differences between these two extensions.
Keywords: Healthy People, goals, objectives, measures.
Introduction
Healthy People is a program on health-promotion and preventing diseases set up first in 1979 by United States Department of Health and Human Services. Its goals were successively updated in Healthy People 2000, 2010 and 2020 (CDC, 2011). This article compares change in the two main goals in Healthy People 2010 and Healthy People 2020.
Discussion
The Healthy People 2010 initiative aimed at the goals of increasing quality of life and extending its span through providing health benefits to all. Its second main goal was to eliminate health disparities arising from differences in sex, ethnicity, and income groups etc.(CDC, 2009)
The Health People 2020 initiative differs a little in its goals in the fact that it along with the goals of Healthy People 2010 it also aims at providing the citizens of United States lives free from “preventable diseases”. Apart from the two goals borrowed from Healthy People 2010, the new initiative includes two more goals. The first of these two new goals is to create social and physical environments for promotion of good health. The second inclusion is promotion of quality of life, healthy behaviors and healthy development across various stages of life (CDC, 2011).
Other differences include the number of objectives and measures enumerated in Healthy People 2010 and 2020. Healthy People 2010 has a total of 467 objectives and 1000 measures (CDC, 2009), while Healthy People 2020 has more than 580 objectives and nearly 1200 measures (CDC, 2011).
Conclusion
In a way, the Healthy People 2020 initiative is not different from Healthy People 2010. It is rather an extension of the older initiative, with clearer objectives and measures to increase the scope and utility of these initiatives in the health sector.
References
CDC (October, 2009). Healthy People 2010. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/healthy_people/hp2010.htm
CDC (October, 2011). Healthy People 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/healthy_people/hp2020.htm
