CDC's Gerberding Discusses Preventive Health Care At Conference

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 15 Nov 2007 - 6:00 PDT

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U.S. resident must focus more on individual health responsibility and proactive efforts to address health threats, CDC Director Julie Gerberding said in an address to the CNY Women's Health Fair and Symposium on Saturday, the Syracuse Post-Standard reports. At the symposium, held at Onondaga Community College in New York and sponsored by Rep. Jim Walsh (R-N.Y.), Gerberding said, "For a long time, many of us have been protected from thinking about the value of our health investments because our insurance took care of everything. Well, today more people don't have insurance and more people are paying out of pocket." She added, "Now people are rising up, particularly Dr. Mom, to say, 'Where do we get value from this,' and 'What's the best way to spend my money to get the best possible health for my children and my family?'"

Gerberding also addressed disease outbreaks and natural disasters. She said, "People get excited and interested when things happen. For instance, we were able to get some excitement and interest for pandemic influenza because of the avian influenza problem, but sustaining this over the time it takes to actually solve problems or to truly move the needle on the dial is a big challenge for us" (Mattise, Syracuse Post-Standard, 11/11).

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