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National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Chronic Disease Prevention
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National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Chronic Disease Prevention Home | Contact Us |
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CENTERS FOR DISEASE
CONTROL AND PREVENTION Commentary Science-Based Policies Designed to Address Today’s Health Problems The world has changed for all of us since the last issue of Chronic Disease Notes & Reports. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the anthrax-tainted letters that followed presented unprecedented challenges for public health. We at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) have been part of CDC’s response. Our Epidemic Intelligence Service Officers, writers and editors, communication specialists, health educators, statisticians, epidemiologists, and informatics specialists have worked in affected communities and staffed CDC’s public response unit on anthrax and other biologic and chemical agents. Our reproductive health scientists ensured that the drug regimen recommended for possible or confirmed anthrax exposure would not harm pregnant women or their babies. We are proud to have been part of these activities, which are critical to safeguarding the public’s health. All the while, we have continued our day-to-day work to prevent and control chronic diseases—through surveillance, education, funding, and research that stand to benefit millions of communities across the globe. This issue of Chronic Disease Notes & Reports focuses on research that promises to improve people’s lives, particularly those populations hardest hit by chronic diseases. Prevention research is not an academic pursuit at CDC. We actively seek to translate research findings into programs, to move from data to action. To maintain its focus on the future, the center has developed a chronic disease research agenda to guide funding decisions for the next 3–5 years. This agenda is based on two priorities: (1) focusing on diseases and conditions that most affect health, longevity, and quality of life; and (2) eliminating health disparities. “Science is an integral part of culture,” wrote natural scientist Stephen J. Gould. In other words, the results from science are not just for scientists, and this insight is essential to chronic disease research at CDC. We work hard to make communities full partners in determining what to study and how to study it, illustrated by Project DIRECT, the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) 2010 project, and CDC’s Prevention Research Centers across the country, all of which are highlighted in this issue. Working closely with communities, we can direct our research toward finding practical solutions that can be immediately applied to pressing health problems. CDC works to address the challenges in chronic disease prevention and health promotion by practicing science in service to the public; using scientific evidence to drive our policies; working in a culture of collaboration; and striving to treat all persons with dignity, honesty, and respect. These principles guide CDC’s community-based participatory research and all our collaborative activities. We must insist on science-based policies to address today’s health problems. Without a strong science base, our policies and programs would develop through trial and error and threaten the credibility of public health. With a strong science base, we can be confident that we are promoting effective public health programs and policies. We must lose neither our passion for public health nor our commitment to science as the basis for public health action. In this we stand firm, no matter how the world changes.
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