86% of Americans believe developing cures for more forms of cancer should be one of the top national health priorities, followed by developing effective treatments for heart disease (78 percent) and more intensive medical care for seniors (76 percent), according to a new survey commissioned by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and conducted by Hart Research Associates.

1. 1
Key Findings From Nationwide Survey Among 1,219 Adults
Conducted June 20-27, 2013
From Hope To Cures:
PhRMA’s First Annual Health
Survey

2. Americans’ Personal Health and
Optimism
2

3. 3
Americans are paying more attention to their health.
Compared to a few years ago, would you say you are paying more attention to your personal
health, about the same amount of attention, or less attention?
StatusAndRoleOfHigherEducation
58%
37%
5%
More
attention
Same amount of
attention
Less
attention
All adults
Paying more attention to my health
Men 58%
Women 58%
Whites 55%
African Americans 71%
Hispanic 60%
High school grad/less ed 57%
Some college 60%
College graduate 57%

4. Americans are paying more attention to preventative
health behaviors.
23%
33%
35%
37%
37%
41%
41%
45%
54%
57%
4
Eating healthy diet
Maintaining healthy weight
Reducing stress
Info on health develop-
ments, guidelines, etc.
Exercising regularly
Taking medicine as prescribed
Getting plenty of sleep
Seeing doctor regularly
Monitoring blood pressure
Moderating alcohol
Proportions who say they are paying more attention to this aspect of looking out for
their health

5. Obesity, weight management, and diet are the top
volunteered concerns about personal health.
5
What are your biggest concerns about your own personal health? What specific things are you
paying attention to related to your personal health?
5%
6%
8%
9%
9%
13%
25%
Aggregated volunteered responses
Obesity, trying to lose
weight, maintaining healthy
weight
Eating healthy, good
diet, watching what I eat
Exercise, working out, staying
physically active
Heart health
High blood pressure
Diabetes, blood sugar
Cancer

6. The most common health challenges Americans face
are obesity and mental health.
5%
6%
12%
9%
14%
19%
21%
6
Obesity
Mental health problems such
as depression and anxiety
Heart disease
Cancer
Diabetes
Diseases that are resistant to
antibiotics
Alzheimer's disease
27%
Health concern I deal with now Health concern I've dealt with in the past but not currently
26%
18%
15%
14%
8%
7%

7. Most Americans say they personally have had a good health
year, especially those who are young, educated, or affluent.
21%
40%
26%
9%
4%
7
How would you describe the past year when it comes to your own personal health?
61%
GREAT/
GOOD
YEAR
Great year
Good year
Okay year
Not good
year Bad
year
Has been a great or good year
Age 18 to 34
Age 35 to 49
Age 50 to 64
Age 65/over
High school grad/less ed
Some college
College graduate
Income less than $30K
Income $30K to $75K
Income more than $75K
71%
61%
53%
56%
51%
62%
68%
47%
63%
69%

8. There is a disconnect between how Americans evaluate
their own health and that of the average American.
21%
40%
26%
9%
4%
8
How would you describe the past year when it comes
to your own personal health?
2%
16%
48%
21%
5%
8%
Thinking about the country as a whole and the
health of the average American, how would
you describe the past year?
61%
GREAT/
GOOD
YEAR
18% GREAT/
GOOD YEAR
Great year Good year Okay year Not good year Not sureBad year

9. By a large margin, doctors are the most trusted source
of information on prescription medications.
2%
2%
15%
19%
60%
9
Doctor or medical professional
Pharmacist
Medical or health-related
websites on the Internet
Friends or family who are not
medical professionals
Practitioner of alternative
medicine
(acupuncturist, chiropractor)
When you have questions about your prescription medicines, which one of the following
do you most commonly go to for information?
Among 18- to 34-year-olds:
Doctor/med, professional 53%
Medical/health websites 22%
All adults

10. 10
Finding reliable and trustworthy health information is fairly
easy for most, more challenging for younger Americans.
When you have questions about your health or physical symptoms, how would you describe the
process of getting reliable information that you can trust to answer your questions?
9%
Easy Difficult
All adults
Very easy to get reliable information
Age 18 to 34 33%
Age 35 to 49 37%
Age 50 to 64 46%
Age 65/over 58%
Currently dealing with:
Obesity 41%
Cancer 45%
Heart disease 49%
Very
easy
43%
Somewhat
easy/only
a few
challenges
90%

11. 11
Americans are optimistic about their own longevity.
To what age do you personally expect to live?
3% 4%
15%
37%
24%
11%
Mean = 86
Under
60
60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99 100/
older
72% believe they will live
to at least 80
Mean longevity expectation
All adults 86
Age 18 to 34 84
Age 35 to 49 85
Age 50 to 64 86
Age 65/over 89
Whites 85
African Americans 88
Hispanics 86
Currently dealing with:
Obesity 85
Cancer 86
Heart disease 84

12. 12
Confidence extends to future generations: Americans estimate
that in 50 years life expectancy will increase more than 13 years
on average.
In 1900 the average life expectancy was about 47, in 1950 it was 68. What do you think the
average life expectancy will be in 50 years?
2%
4% 5%
28% 27%
29%
Mean = 92
Under
60
60-69 70-79 80-89 90-99 100/
older
Mean future longevity expectation
All adults 92
Age 18 to 34 91
Age 35 to 49 91
Age 50 to 64 92
Age 65/over 95
Whites 92
African Americans 90
Hispanics 94
84% expect future generations
will live to at least 80

13. 9%
9%
12%
31%
34%
35%
44%Genetics
Diet
Exercise
Quality of health care
Close relationships with family
and friends
Socioeconomic status
or income
Development of
new medicines
Which one of the following do you think is the most important factor in determining
how long a person lives?
13
While Americans think that genetics is the primary
driver of longevity, they also identify a range of factors
over which they have more control.

14. Americans’ Agenda For
Health Research And Discovery
14

15. Americans outline a broad and ambitious research health
agenda, and put finding more cures for cancer at the top of
the list.
25%
31%
33%
36%
41%
37%
38%
59%
15
Cures for more
forms of cancer
More effective treatments
for heart disease
More elderly needing more
intensive medical care
Obesity
More effective Alzheimer’s
treatment/prevention
Finding more effective treatments
for diabetes
Outbreaks of diseases resistant to
antibiotics
New treatments for mental health
(depression/anxiety)
86%
78%
Should be one of America’s top two or three health priorities Should be an important health priority
76%
74%
73%
73%
70%
64%

16. Americans’ biggest worries are cancer, heart
disease, and Alzheimer’s.
18%
21%
29%
34%
40%
43%
49%
16
Cancer
Heart disease
Alzheimer's disease
Diabetes
Diseases that are resistant to
antibiotics
Obesity
Mental health problems such
as depression and anxiety
Health concern I am worried about for my future

17. Cancer and heart disease are leading concerns for Americans
under age 65; seniors’ leading concern is Alzheimer’s.
17
Cancer
Heart disease
Alzheimer's disease
Diabetes
Diseases that are resistant to
antibiotics
Obesity
Mental health problems such as
depression and anxiety
Proportions saying each is a health concern they are worried about for their future
Age
18 to 34
59%
48%
38%
45%
36%
25%
20%
Age
50 to 64
49%
47%
41%
34%
29%
21%
16%
Age
35 to 49
54%
49%
40%
37%
29%
24%
21%
Age
65/over
34%
26%
43%
20%
23%
15%
14%

18. While cancer is the top priority across groups, there are
generational and race differences in second-tier priorities.
18
Cures for more forms
of cancer
Obesity
More effective treatments for
heart disease
More elderly needing more
intensive medical care
Finding more effective
Alzheimer’s treatment/
prevention
Finding more effective
treatments for diabetes
Proportions saying each should be one of America’s top two or three health priorities
Age
18 to 34
57%
46%
30%
27%
23%
23%
Age
35 to 49
59%
39%
32%
32%
24%
26%
Age
50 to 64
62%
39%
45%
45%
46%
39%
Age
65/over
56%
37%
44%
46%
50%
43%
Whites
59%
39%
36%
37%
35%
31%
African
Americans
58%
42%
51%
42%
43%
41%
His-
panics
64%
56%
42%
32%
42%
42%

19. 2%
6%
9%
9%
12%
12%
19%
26%Stem cell research
AIDS/HIV therapies
New treatments for heart
disease and heart attacks
Robotic surgery
Genetic testing and Human
Genome Project
Cervical cancer vaccine
Treatment for blood cancers
New treatments for
cystic fibrosis
Which one of the following do you think is the biggest medical breakthrough in
recent years?
19
Stem cell research leads the list of the most significant
breakthroughs in recent years, followed by new
AIDS/HIV therapies.

20. Overwhelmingly, Americans are optimistic that cures for
many diseases will be found in the next 10 years.
16%
19%
21%
23%
23%
26%
20
Breast cancer
Heart disease
Diabetes
Colon cancer
Lung cancer
Alzheimer's disease
69%
68%
Very optimistic that cure for this will be found within the next 10 years Somewhat optimistic
56%
53%
68%
64%

21. One in five has had some personal experience with
clinical trials.
Have you, a family member, or a close friend ever participated in clinical research or a clinical
trial?
7%
8%
3%
81%
21
Have
participated
Close friend
Family member
Personally have
Have not
participated
18%

22. Americans see a wide range of motivations for
participating in a clinical research study.
33%
46%
48%
52%
53%
22
Access to cutting-edge medical
treatments
If doctor recommended it
If receive free health care
because of participation
Participation would make a
contribution to medical research
and discovery
If compensated or earn money by
participating
80%
Very important factor Fairly important factor
73%
55%
75%
73%
How much of a factor would this be in your deciding whether to participate in a
clinical research study?

23. Clinical trials are widely hailed as extremely important for
research and discovery of new medicines.
In the process of researching and discovering new medicine, a series of clinical trials are used to
check a compound's effectiveness and safety. These trials are conducted voluntarily with patients
over the course of several years, under the supervision of the FDA. How important do you think this
kind of research is?
65%
25%
7%
3%
Not
sure
Extremely
important
Less/not
important
Extremely important:
Men 65%
Women 65%
Age 18 to 34 64%
Age 35 to 49 65%
Age 50 to 64 66%
Age 65/over 63%
Whites 65%
African Americans 64%
Hispanics 66%
High school grad/less ed 66%
Some college 64%
College graduate 66%
23
Fairly
important
All adults

24. Ads and PSAs are the most common source of information
on clinical trials, though most people would prefer to learn
more from a doctor.
28%
29%
57%
24
Advertisement or public
service announcement
Medical website or
online health source
Doctor or other health
care professional
Proportions saying they have heard about participating in a clinical trial
through each source
From where would you prefer to receive further information about the results of clinical trials
related to diseases you are interested in?
My doctor or health care 51%
provider
News media 18%
Academic medical center 14%
Government body or website 11%
such as clinical trials.gov or FDA
Pharmaceutical manufacturer 3%