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SALT LAKE CITY — Health officials in Utah will receive a $3.5 million grant to help address prevalent chronic diseases that plague many Utahns.
The $3,519,999 award is one of 21 doled out to states and cities across the nation. It aims to strengthen existing programs for preventing chronic diseases including heart disease, stroke and diabetes, among others, which are the leading causes of death and disability in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Goals of the grant funding include reducing the rates of death and disability due to tobacco use; reducing the prevalence of obesity; and reducing rates of death and disability due to diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
Chronic diseases are responsible for seven of 10 deaths among Americans each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is administering the grants. Chronic diseases also account for more than 80 percent of the $2.7 trillion the country spends on medical care each year.
The grants are funded in part by the Affordable Care Act, which aims to cut health care costs nationwide largely through preventive services.
