 |
2
Engaging and Empowering Consumers
|
Engaging and Empowering Consumers
Cost of Chronic Disease
“Although seven of every ten deaths among Americans are due to chronic diseases, the underlying causes of these deaths are often risk factors that can be successfully modified years before they ultimately contribute to illness and death. Three such factors – tobacco use, poor nutrition, and lack of physical activity – are major contributors to the nation’s leading killers. Each year 430,000 deaths (about 20 percent of all deaths) are linked to tobacco use, which causes not only lung cancer and emphysema but also one-fifth of all cardiovascular disease deaths. Obesity is a major contributor to heart disease, diabetes, arthritis and some types of cancer. Recent estimates suggest that obesity is associated with 300,000 deaths annually, second only to tobacco-related deaths.”
– Testimony of Julie L. Gerberding, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Before the Committee on Appropriations,
Subcommittee on Labor,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Education and Related Agencies
of the United States Senate
February 17, 2003
