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WASHINGTON, DC, March 30, 2009 - Partnership for Prevention today urged Congress to make a down-payment on health reform by increasing resources for the U.S. Task Force on Community Preventive Services (USTFCPS), which has been unable to disseminate its more recent findings due to chronic underfunding.
Partnership Interim President Corinne G. Husten, MD, MPH, echoed a request from USTFCPS Chairman Jonathan E. Fielding, who testified Tuesday before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health.
“If we’re serious about health reform, we must make an investment in community prevention, and we need to know what works,” Husten said. “The task force is the nation’s only independent scientific body that evaluates community prevention strategies. It is chronically underfunded and cannot provide states and communities the evidence they need to protect the health of their citizens.”
“A person’s health is just as strongly influenced by the environment around them as it is by the medical care available to them,” she said. “The Task Force on Community Preventive Services issues invaluable findings and recommendations about how to best improve health through community interventions.”
“Unless we have a serious commitment to prevention, we will not be able to control costs without sacrificing health,” Husten said. “Real health reform starts with prevention.”
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