National Conference on CVD Prevention:
Meeting the Healthy People 2010 Objectives for Cardiovascular Health

The overall goal of this trans-agency National Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention is to assess the magnitude and causes of trends in coronary heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases, including evidence that declines in CVD morbidity and mortality have stopped, or, in certain subgroups, reversed. A review of needs and opportunities to reestablish the CVD decline will allow development of a more comprehensive and effective research and prevention agenda for the 21st Century. The core premise of the conference is that declines in CVD morbidity and mortality of specific subgroups defined by socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and region have lagged and their relatively higher rates of CVD constitute a major challenge to reaching the Healthy People 2010 Objectives. The possible causes of these disparities in CVD burden may include trends in CVD risk factors, the provision of primary preventive services, and the use of secondary and tertiary healthcare. These topics should be examined to provide not only explanations for the disparities, but opportunities to rectify them. To meet this overall goal, the conference has five specific objectives:

  1. Examine trends in levels of CVD mortality (and morbidity if possible) in the U.S. population as a whole and in selected subpopulations, trends in the degree of disparity among subpopulations, and the potential reduction of the disparity as a means to attain the projected 2010 objectives.

  2. Describe trends in levels of CVD risk factors, both behavioral (e.g. diet, exercise, tobacco use) and physiological (e.g. serum lipids, blood pressure, obesity, diabetes) in the U.S. population as a whole and in selected subpopulations, in parallel to CVD mortality trends as a way to better understand the disparities in CVD mortality among subpopulations.

  3. Estimate trends in levels of health services, including primary prevention, secondary prevention, and rehabilitation, in parallel to CVD mortality trends, as a means to understand the influence of disparities in health care on disparities in CVD mortality trends among subpopulations.

  4. Identify areas where new or better data are needed to attain the Year 2010 objectives, so as to target these areas as part of the strategic research agenda for the 21st Century.

  5. Develop a more effective strategic agenda for CVD prevention programs and policies to reduce CVD in the U.S. population as a whole and disparities among subpopulations in CVD mortality, morbidity, risk factors, and health care services, as a means to achieve the Year 2010 objectives.
By the end of this National Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, a better picture of the cardiovascular health in the United States should be available, with a strategic agenda proposed for research to understand and improve CVD indicators, and for policies and programs to more effectively prioritize and implement intervention strategies over the next decade.

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