Dr. David Satcher is the 16^th Surgeon General of the United States. Dr. Satcher served simultaneously in the positions of Surgeon General and Assistant Secretary for Health from February 1998 through January 2001.

            Dr. Satcher’s lecture was very informative. The lecture focused on the major challenges facing the health care system today in the United States from a surgeon general’s perspective. Dr. Satcher started off by saying that the United States is number twenty nine in life expectancy among others. There are two types of problems with the health care systems; internal and external. The internal problems deal with the costs of health care and the external problems deal with the environment around us. The SHLI mission is to develop a diverse of public health leaders, foster and support leadership strategies and influence policies toward the reduction and ultimate elimination of disparities in health. Dr. Satcher then discussed the Healthy People 2010 campaign. The Healthy People 2010 overarching goals were to Increase years and quality of healthy life, and to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities. I thought that Dr. Satcher is very determined to try and reach these goals. He really wants to help make the healthcare systems better for all of us. Dr. Satcher then went on to discuss the determinants of health. These determinates of health are behavior, environment, and biology. He then asked the questions “What if we had eliminated disparities in the last centuries?” He answered this question with there would have been fewer black deaths in 2000. There were a lot of statistics but I did not get them all.  Dr. Satcher then went over the access to health care major barriers. These included the uninsured, the underinsured, the underserved, underrepresented, the uninspired, untrusting, and the uninformed. These were presented as the major barriers that prevent many people from receiving the quality of healthcare that they deserver. These barriers cause many people to have problems that could have been prevented in the first place. Dr. Satcher went over the Public Health approach. This approach included, 1) define the health problem or opportunity, 2) define the cause or risk factors involved, and 3) define what works. This is the approach that public health is trying to take. Dr. Satcher went over the health system challenge. This challenge included how to fund programs, and the public health approach as most cost effective and humane. AFHK has three major thrusts; 1.) To improve children’s eating habits, 2) increase children’s physical activity, 3.) Educate administrators, teachers, students, and patients how eating habits and physical activity can affect academic performance. He then went over the balanced community health approach.  This approach includes health promotion, disease prevention, early detection, and moves towards universal health care. This approach allows the community to take part in helping the health care systems be the best it can be for the people. The last thing that the General went over was the Surgeon General’s prescription. This prescription includes having physical activity for thirty minutes a day at least five days a week. Eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day to help reduce overweight and obesity. Avoid using toxins and tobacco which are very dangerous to your health. Control substance abuse for this is also very harmful for you body. And use responsible sexual behavior. If you are not going to use abstinence then make sure to use condoms and other forms of protection that are responsible.