En Route to a Healthier America

It's no mystery that our nation's health is in poor shape, despite spending more money on treatment than any other country. Yet, there is hope for real progress in fixing it. The comprehensive health reform legislation that was just signed into law presents us with a historic opportunity to rethink our approach to preventing disease, protecting health and promoting wellness for all Americans.

We know that if every American simply implements healthy practices such as improving their nutrition, getting regular exercise, and eliminating any use of tobacco products we can create a ripple effect from coast to coast and reach our goal of building a healthier America

For more than a decade, the American Public Health Association has organized National Public Health Week to highlight issues that are important to improving the health of communities and citizens across the country.

This year, we are focusing on the key role that communities play in building a healthier America and encouraging meaningful lifestyle changes that every person can make to improve their health and the health of their community. Our ultimate goal is to make community based prevention and achieving wellness easy to do.

Several of the prevention initiatives included in the health care bill come a long way to elevate the critical role that prevention and healthy behavior play in our everyday lives. The bill provides federal funding for a Prevention and Public Health Fund that will equip state and local health departments and community based organizations to help strengthen community prevention and other public health programs.

We are en route to a healthier America, but we have a lot of work to do in order to get there. We are encouraging every American to join APHA during National Public Health Week (April 5-11) as we work together to create "A Healthier America: One Community at a Time."