Healthy People 2010: objectives for the United States

Impressive, but unwieldy

In January the United States Department of Health and Human Services released Healthy People 2010, the nation's health goals for this decade.1 The report contains 467 specific objectives grouped into 28 “focus areas” (see box). It is the third set of 10 year national goals put out by the department, following earlier versions for 1990 and 2000. Once again it prompts the questions raised by most target setting exercises—of manageability and accountability.2

The scope and depth of the report are impressive, reflecting four years' work and broad consultation with the public, health experts, and over 350 national organisations and 270 state agencies. It is grounded in scientific evidence and covers an array of health behaviours, environmental factors, and other important determinants of individual and community health. A toolkit has been developed to help build support for Healthy People 2010 activities at the state and local levels, 3 and the public is being asked to join the campaign (www.health.gov/healthypeople/youcando/default.htm)