Carmona on Preventing Chronic Disease

Monday's Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report included the news item below, which highlights an opinion piece written by Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona entitled "U.S. needs to invest in preventing chronic diseases", which appeared in the May 12th Philadelphia Inquirer.   To access the opinion piece in its entirety, click here.

Former Surgeon General Carmona Outlines Preventive Methods for Chronic Diseases in Opinion Piece

[May 12, 2008]

"The issue of health care reform in the United States is extraordinarily complex," but the "good news is that we can take steps now to improve the health and well-being of our people by addressing our nation's single greatest threat to public health and our health care system: chronic disease," former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona writes in a Philadelphia Inquirer opinion piece.

Carmona -- president of the Canyon Ranch Institute and chair of the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease -- continues, "Fixing our health care system requires that we transform our fundamental approach to health" by "moving away from 'sick care' -- where we treat diseases after they occur -- toward embracing health and wellness through prevention." In addition, "we need to support addressing chronic disease prevention and management in any health care plan because prevention and management of chronic diseases are the solution to our health care problems."