Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease
and Emory University Host National
Leaders in Health Care at Symposium:
Fighting Chronic Disease: The Missing
Link in Health Care Reform

Half-Day Event Puts Spotlight on Chronic
Disease and Its Ties to Americans' Health
Care Priorities; Release of Compendium of
Model Programs to Help Guide Changes in Policy

(WASHINGTON) - As voters focus increasingly on presidential candidates' health care proposals, the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD) and the Emory University Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions today convened thought leaders to spotlight the integral role chronic disease prevention and management must play in health reform, and to offer evidence-based recommendations for what can be done to help more Americans lead healthier, more productive lives.

"When we talk about health care reform - especially in the context of the presidential election - there's no question that we need to talk about fighting chronic diseases. They are the most common, and the most costly, health conditions in this country," said PFCD Executive Director, Ken Thorpe, Ph.D. Thorpe is also Executive Director of the Emory University Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions and the Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health.

Thorpe noted that chronic illnesses account for seven in 10 deaths and 75 percent of health care spending in the United States - about $1.5 billion in direct costs annually - and that fighting chronic disease is critically important to making progress on Americans’ greatest health care priorities, including improving the affordability and quality of care.

Progress, Thorpe proposed in his opening remarks to the half-day symposium, depends not only on the substance of ideas, but on the ability to develop leadership, and build a coalition with shared values, in support of change. By focusing on the most common causes of illness, disability, and death, he said, "We have greater promise of breaking through political gridlock because improving the health and wellness of Americans is not a partisan issue."

Thorpe called upon the many prominent health care leaders in attendance, including his fellow speakers, to join the PFCD in its mission to promote change. "Today we bring together some of the nation's greatest leaders in health care - people with a wealth of experience - to talk about what we need to do to fix this problem, and, just as importantly, to talk about how we can make health reform around this issue a political reality," he said.

The Honorable Tom Daschle, Former Senate Majority Leader, echoed Dr. Thorpe's sentiments during his keynote address, noting the centrality of building consensus. Senator Daschle stated that "If we want to provide Americans with a health-care system they deserve, all interests groups must work together to address cost, quality, and access in a comprehensive fashion."

A number of other prominent health, media and political experts also spoke at the symposium, including:

  • Dick Gephardt, JD, Former House Majority Leader
  • Nancy Johnson, Former Congresswoman and Ways & Means Health Subcommittee Chair
  • Mark McClellan, MD, Ph.D., Director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform
  • Otis Brawley, MD, Chief Medical Officer of the American Cancer Society
  • Mary Agnes Carey, Associate Editor, CQ HealthBeat
  • Jeanne Cummings, Chief Lobbying and Money Correspondent, Politico
  • Pat Ford-Roegner, MSW, RN, FAAN, CEO of the American Academy of Nursing
  • John Harwood, Chief Washington Correspondent of CNBC, Political Writer for New York Times
  • Patrick Mattingly, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dialog
  • Gwen Mayes, JD, MMSc, WomenHeart Patient Advocate
  • Laura Meckler, Wall Street Journal reporter
  • Nancy Nielsen, MD, Ph.D., President-elect of the American Medical Association
  • Chris Viehbacher, President of North American Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline
  • Andy Stern, President of Service Employees International Union (Video Message)
  • James Wagner, Ph.D., President of Emory University (Video Message)

At the event, the PFCD released a new resource for policymakers and health experts, "Keeping America Healthy: A Guide To Successful Programs," which showcases public and private programs from across the country that have proven success in improving health and health behaviors and reducing the burden of disease.

"Keeping America Healthy"examines programs across four settings - workplace, schools, community and "health systems," (i.e., Medicare, hospitals, and other system-based settings) - and identifies nine "essential elements" for success. It also includes a catalog that can serve as examples of ways to change individual behavior, maintain or improve health and manage the staggering health care costs associated with chronic diseases. This new resource is available on the PFCD Web site at www.fightchronicdisease.org/promisingpractices.

"While there is no template that works for all settings or circumstances, it is our hope that 'Keeping America Healthy' will provide a roadmap for how to conceive of and implement programs that can help to lower chronic disease rates and the risk factors associated with them, as well as reduce the burden of illness on those already affected," Thorpe said.

This symposium is one of several efforts this year by the PFCD to continue raising awareness of the nation’s chronic disease crisis and to promote solutions that will work for all Americans. On May 15, the Partnership issued a comprehensive "Almanac of Chronic Disease" highlighting the impact of chronic disease on our Americans' health, health care, and the U.S. economy. The Almanac is available online at: http://www.fightchronicdisease.com/resources/index.cfm.

About the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease:
PFCD is a national coalition of patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts committed to raising awareness of the number one cause of death, disability, and rising health care costs in the U.S.: chronic disease.

The PFCD's mission is to:

  • Challenge policymakers - in particular, the 2008 presidential candidates - to make fighting chronic disease a top priority and articulate how they will address the issue in their health care proposals
  • Educate the public about chronic disease and potential solutions for individuals, communities, and the nation
  • Mobilize Americans to call for change in how policymakers, governments, employers, health institutions, and other entities approach chronic disease

For more information about the PFCD and its partner organizations, please visit: http://www.fightchronicdisease.org.

The mission of the Emory Institute for Advanced Policy Solutions is to improve public policymaking through research, education and technical assistance. The Institute serves as a critical hub for broad interdisciplinary research, applied policy development and public policy training - all focused on evidence-based, innovative solutions to complex problems facing the public, private and nonprofit sectors.

For additional information, visit www.emory.edu/policysolutions.

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