Strategic Plan

The NIH Health Disparities Strategic Plan and Budget is a comprehensive document, which sets the overarching principles for the NIH health disparities agenda. It outlines the ongoing and planned projects of each NIH Institute and Center, and the program offices within the NIH Office of the Director to address minority health and health disparities.

It focuses on three major goals each NIH Institute and Center must strive to achieve:

• Conduct and support intensive research on the factors underlying health disparities;
• Expand and enhance research capacity to create a culturally sensitive and culturally competent workforce;
• Engage in aggressive, proactive community outreach, information dissemination, and public health education

As the leader in the NIH mission to end health disparities, NIMHD leads the development and revision of the strategic plan in collaboration with the NIH Institute and Center Directors, the NIH Director, and in consultation with the National Advisory Council on Minority Health and Health Disparities. In addition, public input is obtained to inform each version of the strategic plan.

As stated in Public Law 106-525, the plan and budget shall:

• Establish priorities among the health disparities research activities that NIH agencies are authorized to carry out;
• Establish objectives regarding health disparities research activities;
• Describe the means for achieving the objectives, and designate the date by which the objectives are expected to be completed;
• Serve as a broad binding statement of policies regarding minority health disparities research and other health disparities research activities of the agencies;
• Promote coordination and collaboration among the agencies conducting or supporting minority health or other health disparities research.