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This year the National Public Health Week theme is A Healthier America Begins Today: Join the Movement, April 2 - 8, 2012. The American Public Health Association (APHA) is encouraging more Americans and their communities to take preventive measures to help improve their lives.

This year, with the recent release of the National Prevention Strategy, APHA hopes to address the issue of prevention and wellness to ensure that all is being done to improve our nation's health. The ultimate goal of the APHA is to make the US the healthiest nation in one generation.

The five focus areas include active living and health eating; alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; communicable diseases; reproductive and sexual health; and mental and emotional well-being.

The APHA says that every year, chronic diseases such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes are responsible for millions of premature deaths. Americans miss 2.5 billion days of work because of these illnesses, and all of that lost productivity adds up to more than $1 trillion. Injuries, unexpected accidents and violence affect people daily in all aspects of life. Unintentional injuries, such as motor vehicle crashes, poisonings, and burns rank among the top 10 causes of death for people aged 44 and younger.

Catching and preventing these illnesses and incidents before they develop is the key to improving our nation's health. There are so many small steps we can take to begin leading healthier lives; sometimes it just takes a little motivation.

In Minneapolis, the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota is hosting their 8th Annual National Public Health Week Film Festival.  This year the schedule includes films focusing on sexual health with the event on Friday, April 6, 2012, showing "Orgasm, Inc," and vintage sex education shorts.

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