interoperable with electronic health records and integrate them into the Vaccine Tracking System (VTrcks), CDC’s new IT system developed as part of the agency’s large‐scale efforts to improve processes and systems for managing publicly funded vaccine ordering and distribution. Another aim is to develop reimbursement policies that allow public health departments to bill private insurance companies for vaccinations given to insured populations. Internationally, CDC works with ministries of health, the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the GAVI Alliance, the Gates Foundation, and many other partners to reduce vaccine‐preventable diseases, including intensive efforts to complete the eradication of polio; to introduce new, life‐saving vaccines (e.g., meningococcal A and Streptococcus pneumoniae conjugates, rotavirus, HPV); and to identify strategies to help strengthen immunization systems in developing countries. These and other activities are included in the CDC Global Immunization Strategic Framework, 2011–2015 (15), which outlines goals, strategies, and success measures for effectively meeting priority global immunization challenges in the near future. • Healthcare‐associated infections HAIs are a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. At any given time, approximately 1 in 20 patients receiving treatment in U.S. hospitals has an HAI. HAIs are often the secondary cause of death among people with heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lower respiratory disease. In 2002, approximately 1.7 million HAIs and nearly 100,000 associated deaths occured in U.S. hospitals (16). Demonstrated successes by CDC and public health partners over the past decade in using concerted infection control practices to reduce HAIs have led to a number of healthcare quality initiatives and campaigns, including the HHS Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare‐Associated Infections (17) and expanded use of public health measures to reduce HAIs. Examples of these tools and incentives include - Evidence‐based guidelines developed by the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) with CDC and partners - HAI infection control “toolkits” for hospitals and healthcare personnel October 2011 | 17 - Efforts to link adherence to CDC infection control guidelines with financial incentives offered from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to improve healthcare quality as part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act - The National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), which enables healthcare facilities, state health departments, and HHS to monitor HAIs and track successes and areas for improvement. Also as part of these efforts, state health departments are working with state hospital associations and quality‐improvement organizations to expand their roles in HAI prevention. Reflecting this national movement toward greater accountability on the use of proven practices to prevent HAIs, all 50 states and the District of Columbia now have state HAI prevention plans. • HIV/AIDS Despite major advances in prevention and treatment, HIV infection remains a significant national and global public health challenge. CDC estimates that approximately 1.2 million persons in the United States were living with HIV at the end of 2008, and each year more than 56,000 are newly infected (18,19). Although expanded HIV testing efforts have helped both to increase the proportion of infected persons who are aware of their infection and to decrease the number of persons with late diagnoses, approximately 20% of U.S. persons living with HIV remain unaware of their infection and nearly one‐third of HIV diagnoses still occur late in the course of infection (20). Early identification of HIV infection can enable access to life‐saving treatment, help reduce further transmission, and decrease medical costs. It is estimated that HIV prevention efforts in the United States averted 350,000 infections from 1991–2006, saving $125 billion in medical care costs (21). CDC works with public and private partners to promote testing to identify infected persons and link them to care and prevention services. Innovative strategies to reach higher risk populations include targeted testing efforts, programs designed to help infected persons avoid passing their infection to their partners, and community‐based efforts such as syringe services programs designed to reduce HIV transmission among injection drug users. Government‐wide efforts are underway to implement the National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States, (22) with primary goals of 1) reducing HIV incidence; 2) increasing access to care for persons with HIV infection; and 3) reducing HIV‐related health disparities. Global estimates indicate that 33.3 million persons were living with HIV infection at the end of 2009 (23). CDC serves as a key U.S. government agency in supporting the implementation of the U.S. Global Health Initiative (GHI) through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), with expanded focus on improving the health of women and children, including reducing maternal‐to‐child transmission of HIV. As part of these efforts, CDC works with ministries of health and other partners throughout the world to improve local capacity to prevent and reduce the impact