Healthy People 2020

Healthy People 2020 was the fourth iteration of the Healthy People initiative. Launched in December 2010, Healthy People 2020 set an ambitious yet achievable 10-year agenda for improving the nation’s health.

About Healthy People 2020

The vision for Healthy People 2020 was “a society in which all people live long, healthy lives.”

Its mission was to:

• Identify nationwide health improvement priorities
• Increase public awareness and understanding of the determinants of health, disease, and disability and the opportunities for progress
• Provide measurable objectives and goals that are applicable at the national, state, and local levels
• Engage multiple sectors to take actions to strengthen policies and improve practices that are driven by the best available evidence and knowledge
• Identify critical research, evaluation, and data collection needs

Healthy People 2020 set overarching goals to:

• Attain high-quality, longer lives free of preventable disease, disability, injury, and premature death
• Achieve health equity, eliminate disparities, and improve the health of all groups
• Create social and physical environments that promote good health for all
• Promote quality of life, healthy development, and healthy behaviors across all life stages

Assessing Healthy People 2020

HHS assessed progress toward achieving Healthy People 2020 objectives throughout the decade. The report “Healthy People 2020: An End of Decade Snapshot” provides an overview of that progress.

The National Center for Health Statistics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will publish a more detailed report in 2021.

Healthy People 2020 Law and Health Policy

The Healthy People 2020 Law and Health Policy project aimed to raise awareness of the impact that legal or policy interventions can have on public health. The project was a partnership between ODPHP, CDC, the CDC Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

These organizations worked with subject matter experts and federal stakeholders to create reports, webinars, and products to highlight laws and policies with the potential to impact specific Healthy People 2020 topic areas and objectives.