Fresh Ideas for Chronic Disease Prevention

Increased chronic disease is eroding the health of our nation and community. According to the Centers for Disease and Prevention, over 45% of the U.S. population has at least one chronic disease. Chronic disease is responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths in the U.S., killing more than 1.7 million Americans every year (over 4,500 per day). People with chronic disease are the most frequent users of health care services, accounting for 81% of all hospital admissions, 91% of all prescriptions filled, and 76% of all physician visits. Overall, people with chronic conditions account for 83% of all health care spending in the U.S.

The Milken Institute (2007) analyzed the tangible costs of chronic illness to the U.S. and to individual states. Seven categories of chronic disease were considered: cancer (all types), diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, pulmonary conditions, and mental disorders. In Ohio, the direct cost to treat these seven categories of disease totals more than $13.5 billion annually. These conditions led to lost workdays (“absenteeism”) and lower employee productivity (“presenteeism”), resulting in another $43.4 billion in economic loss in 2003.

What should our community do to reverse this epidemic?
We can’t continue to ONLY pour more money (that we don’t have) into expanding health care delivery that treats chronic disease downstream. What we need is a commitment to explore innovative ideas that focus on upstream solutions!

Resources such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America (commissiononhealth.org) can help inform our local public policy to promote health by encouraging healthy behaviors and making it easier to adopt and maintain them.

One way to practice this is to integrate a HEALTH perspective into our public policy decisions, such as:

- Nutrition: Should we explore the VALUE PROPOSITION of making healthy foods more affordable and junk food more expensive as an investment in our health?

- Safety: Should we explore the VALUE PROPOSITION of increasing safety in our neighborhoods as an investment in our health?

- Exercise: Should we explore the VALUE PROPOSITION of providing sidewalks and green space in all neighborhoods as an investment in our health?


No doubt these issues (and others) will be tough public policies to address. However, if we do not make a stronger commitment to integrate a HEALTH perspective in our public policy decisions, we will continue to get more of what we got.