Research capacity and closing the health gap.

In January 2000, the Healthy People 2010 initiative was introduced by the US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), which set the nation's health goals for the coming decade. In 1990, a previous DHHS administration had released the Healthy People 2000 initiative, which set goals to be met by the year 2000. In 1979, the first set of health goals for the nation was released, titled Healthy People. Thus, Healthy People 2010 is the third iteration of such goals. This effort has achieved momentum and indeed is paying off handsomely. The framework of the Healthy People initiatives, however, is just one gauge of US public health care status; it and a myriad of other programs and studies in recent decades reflect the gains and shortcomings of our complex health care system. In several areas, minority health disparities continue to be the weakness in our capacity building to achieve the nation's health goals.