By: Rich Lindsey, CSG West 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this summer that as part of their strategy to prevent and control diabetes, heart disease, and obesity the agency was making a non-competitive funding opportunity to all fifty states and the District of Columbia. A second competitive component has funding for up to 25 states. Combined funding for both components is $70 million.

With the non-competitive component states will be asked to target strategies that result in measurable impacts to address school health, nutrition and physical activity risk factors, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease and stroke prevention.  Strategies should be designed to focus on early childhood programs, schools, and work sites.  The CDC is also asking public health officials through partnerships to address uncontrolled hypertension and encourage increased breastfeeding.

Why is the CDC offering up these funding opportunities to states?  The CDC defines chronic diseases as heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, obesity, and related risk factors, such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, and poor diet.  Chronic diseases are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, accounting for 7 of every 10 deaths.  By 2005, almost 1 in every 2 American adults had at least one chronic disease. Today, medical care costs for people with chronic diseases account for more than 75% of the nation's $2.6 trillion medical care costs. 

This funding opportunity by the CDC demonstrates how public health and health care systems are evolving.  The alarming statistics related to obesity and diabetes alone show how the focus of health care systems has moved from acute and infectious disease to chronic diseases. The focus on chronic disease has raised the spotlight on prevention, health promotion, and the raising of awareness in communities of the importance of supporting healthy living  linked to health care systems.  A primary outcome aimed for by the CDC's non-competitive component, for example, is to increase community clinical linkages to public health efforts of prevention and control of diabetes and obesity. 

One of the most important impacts the CDC funding opportunity could have on prevention is the creation of long term community collaborations.  Focus on community awareness of better nutrition and fitness requires partnerships among public and private sectors.  The business community, schools, hospitals, non-governmental organizations, and federal, state, and local governments are examples of just a few of the entities that need to work together to create healthier living habits that will prevent chronic diseases by changing community norms.

For more information on the CDC funding please visit here.