The National Agenda for Public Health Action represents a monumental step in addressing a priority health issue for women. It has been a work in progress and a true collaboration among the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Diabetes Association (ADA), the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), and the American Public Health Association (APHA) - and numerous additional partnering organizations. The National Agenda for Public Health Action challenges us as a nation to reach beyond our traditional boundaries of public and private health care, federal and state politics, community programs and academic research, and media and training. It poses a vision of a nation in which diabetes among women is prevented or at least delayed whenever possible, and it outlines a rational and feasible plan for making that vision a reality. We hope that the National Agenda will become a beacon for mobilizing the collective energies and resources of multiple entities to truly make a difference in the lives of women and their families who face the daily challenges of diabetes. Diabetes is a tremendous financial burden on patients, their families and society. It's a burden that grows in conjunction with America's obesity epidemic. Diabetes costs our country $132 billion a year in direct medical costs and in indirect costs such as disability, missed work and premature death. More importantly, it costs Americans their lives, their health and their well-being. But amidst all the bad news, there is also good news: Diabetes is often preventable. Of the more than 17 million Americans with diabetes, more than half are women. An additional 16 million more Americans have pre-diabetes. We must all work to fight this disease that affects so many of our friends, neighbors and loved ones. Fighting diabetes through research and public education is one of our top priorities at the Department of Health and Human Services. That's why HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in cooperation with partners such as the American Diabetes Association, the American Public Health Association, and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, developed the National Agenda for Public Health Action. We hope this agenda will guide the nation in addressing diabetes and women's health. We want an America in which: Diabetes among women is prevented or at least delayed whenever possible; Women at risk for diabetes are provided the family and community support they need to prevent or delay diabetes and its complications; Appropriate care and management of diabetes among women is promoted across the life stages; And the occurrence of complications from diabetes among women is prevented, delayed, or minimized.