单选题
New U.S. Plan for Disease Prevention
Urging Americans to
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responsibility for their health, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson
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Tuesday launched a $15 million program to try to
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communities to do more to prevent chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer and diabetes.
The initiative highlights the cost of chronic diseases—the leading causes of death in the United States— and outlines ways that people can
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them, including better diet and increased exercise.
"In the United States today, 7 of 10 deaths and the vast majority of
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illness, disability and health care costs are
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by chronic diseases," the Health and Human Services Department said in a statement.
The causes are often
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—smoking, poor eating habits and a lack of exercise.
"I am
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that preventing disease by promoting better health is a smart policy choice for our future," Thompson told at a conference held to launch the initiative.
"Our current health care system is not structured to
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with the escalating costs of treating diseases that are largely preventable through changes in our lifestyle choices."
Thompson said heart disease and strokes will cost the country more than $351 billion in 2003.
"These leading causes of death for men and women are largely
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, yet we as a nation are not taking the steps necessary for us to lead healthier, longer lives," he said.
The $15 million is
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to go to communities to promote prevention, pushing for changes as simple as building sidewalks to encourage people to walk more.
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exercise such as walking can prevent and even
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heart disease and diabetes, and prevent cancer and strokes.
The money will also go to community organizations, clinics and nutritionists who are being encouraged to work together to educate people at
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of diabetes about what they can do to prevent it and encourage more cancer screening.
The American Cancer Society
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that half of all cancers can be caught by screening, including Pap tests for cervical (子宫颈的) cancer, mammograms (乳房X射线照片) for breast cancer, colonoscopies (结肠镜检查), and prostate (前列腺的) cheeks.
If such cancers were all caught by early screening, the group estimates that the survival rate for cancer would rise to 95 percent.