ODPHP Director

Firearm-related injuries and deaths in the United States are a public health crisis. HHS remains committed to reducing the number of firearm-related injuries and deaths. As with other public health challenges, that means openly acknowledging the scope of the problem, updating the public on what we’re doing to reduce firearm-related injuries and deaths, and providing the most up-to-date available guidance to help the broader public navigate the crisis.   

Contemporary approaches to healthy living, with an increasing attentiveness to social determinants of health and the Vital Conditions for Health and Well-Being, hold potential — even real promise — to provide us with longer and greater-quality lives, especially through our later years. Focusing and sustaining meaningful action in support of that potential — that promise — requires a broader perspective on healthy aging and an open and inclusive conversation on the subject.