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On Thursday, March 11, 2021 from 2:00-4:00 p.m. ET, the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and Health Affairs will host a virtual briefing with an expert panel, moderated by Alan Weil, Editor-in-Chief of Health Affairs, to discuss the key health policy recommendations across Vital Directions for Health and Health Care: Priorities for 2021.  In 2016, the NAM established the Vital Directions for Health & Health Care initiative, which aims to provide the U.S. presidential administration, other policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public, with trusted, nonpartisan, evidence-based analysis of the most compelling opportunities and priorities in health, health care, and biomedical science. The resulting 2017 NAM Vital Directions publication marshaled the expertise of over 150 of the nation’s most well-regarded researchers and health policy experts to provide guidance on 19 priority areas that could immediately and substantively improve health and health care for all Americans.  Since that seminal publication, much has happened in health and health care, underscoring concerns about the nation’s persistent challenges related to maternal mortality, the opioid crisis, and pervasive health inequities, among others. In anticipation of the 2020 presidential election, the NAM completed an updated assessment on key priorities and issues of urgent attention for the next administration. In collaboration with Health Affairs, the NAM published a collection of articles in January 2021 that addresses five high priority issues which have a particularly compelling need for attention from policymakers and decision-makers: health cost and financing optimizing health and well-being for women and children transforming mental health and addiction services actualizing better health and health care for older adults, and better managing infectious disease threats  The virtual briefing will feature stakeholder perspectives on the top priorities for policymakers and decision-makers to help ensure improved health and health care for all Americans.  Visit nam.edu/VitalDirections for all Vital Directions resources.