Make it stop

The Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) released a survey Friday (Nov. 13) that shows 71% of Americans favor an increased investment in disease prevention and that disease prevention is one of the most popular components of health reform. Also, 44% of Americans surveyed strongly favor investing more in prevention.

Survey results were compiled from 1,008 interviews conducted between Nov. 2 and Nov. 5.

The results crossed political party lines, with disease prevention supported by 85% of Democrats, 59% of Republicans and 68% of Independents.

“Prevention is clearly one of the most popular parts of health reform," Al Quinlan, president of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, said in a statement. "Americans see a real payoff for investing in disease prevention in terms of lowering disease rates and reducing health care costs."

OTHER SURVEY FINDINGS
• By nearly a three-to-one margin (70% to 24%), people think prevention will save money rather than cost money.

• 66% of Americans believe investing in prevention is worth it at a cost of $34 billion out of the $900 billion total proposed health reform spending proposals. 65% of Americans say they would either be more likely to support a member of Congress who votes for the proposal to invest in prevention or that it would make no difference to their vote.

• 82% of Americans favor a proposal to ensure that public health workers are well trained, have up-to-date laboratories, and are adequately equipped to communicate with the public about health threats.

• 73% of Americans favor a proposal to provide for education loan repayment to make sure we have enough public health professionals to combat shortages in health departments and meet health needs.

• 72 percent of Americans favor a proposal to establish a Public Health Investment Fund that would dedicate annual funding to prevention.

• 58 percent of Americans favor a proposal to create a National Prevention and Wellness Strategy to coordinate our efforts by assessing the health of our country, establishing priorities, and setting health goals.

• 58% of Americans favor a Preventive Services Task Force, an independent entity that reviews scientific evidence and cost-effectiveness of prevention programs, which recommends ways to improve prevention programs and provide local community health services with key information to help people make healthier choices.