Coordinated Chronic Disease Program Launched Chronic
diseases—such as arthritis, heart disease, cancer, and
diabetes1,2,3—are the leading causes of death and disability in
the United States, accounting for 70% of all deaths and about
75% of the $2.6 trillion4 the nation spends on health care
services. To the nation's credit, some progress has been made in
tackling chronic diseases—death rates from heart disease and
stroke, for example, have declined dramatically, and lung,
breast, and colorectal cancer rates have dropped significantly.
But the battle to overcome these mostly preventable diseases,
which afflict more than 130 million Americans,2 is being
reinvigorated by a new approach. As part of CDC's continuing
effort to accelerate the nation's ability to prevent and control
chronic diseases, the agency recently launched an initiative
designed to help states deliver the interventions that can help
manage chronic diseases and address the multiple "risk factors"
or root causes that underlie them—smoking, poor