As the new Director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), I
have identified three priority areas for CDC: first,
strengthening the public health infrastructure--the people and
systems needed to protect and promote the nation's health;
second, enhancing CDC's national and worldwide leadership in
prevention; and third, promoting the health of children. Efforts
to address each of these priority areas will depend on effective
public health surveillance--the ongoing collection, analysis, and
dissemination of data in order to prevent disease and injury.
The MMWR Surveillance Summaries are published four times a year
with the purpose of disseminating high-priority surveillance data
to the public health community. This issue of the Surveillance
Summaries focuses on the health of women and children in U.S.
minority populations. All three of my priority areas are
addressed in this issue--the development of infrastructure in the
form of public health surveillance, the monitoring of the
effectiveness of prevention programs, and the highlighting of the
health of our youth.
I am pleased to join with Dr. Antonia Novello, the Surgeon
General, in underscoring the importance of the public health
community in preventing disease and injury, particularly as they
relate to mothers and children in U.S. minority populations. This
issue of the Surveillance Summaries reflects our ongoing
commitment to prevention. I want sincerely to express my
gratitude for the collaboration of our colleagues in state and
local health departments and other members of the public health
community. I look forward to comments on this and other issues of
the MMWR Surveillance Summaries as we collaborate in the future
to prevent illness and injury and to promote the public's health.
William L. Roper, M.D., M.P.H.
Director
Centers for Disease Control
Disclaimer
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