FDA Strategic Action Plan released.

Fall 2007

Message from the FDA Commissioner:

I am proud to present the FDA's Strategic Action Plan, which sets forth our long-term strategic goals and objectives. The plan also details specific actions we are committed to taking over the next 18 months as we carry out our mission of promoting and protecting the public health.

Leading any organization is in some respects analogous to navigating challenging rapids in a white-water raft. Both tasks involve dealing with day-to-day crises (or getting through the toughest rapids on the river) while charting a strategic course that allows the organization to fulfill its mission over the long haul (navigating the raft safely to the chosen destination). Leading the FDA is no exception--and if anything the scope and complexity of our public health responsibilities makes planning ahead an even greater challenge. This new Strategic Action Plan charts our course for the future, focusing on four strategic goals: strengthening the FDA, improving the safety of patients and consumers, increasing access to new medical and food products, and improving the safety and quality of manufactured products and the supply chain. Each of these goals represents a fundamental public health task that is crucial to fulfilling our mission.

As specific and as detailed as this plan is, however, it will account for nothing unless we use it as a blueprint for our public health work over the next year-and-a-half. For in the end, this Strategic Action Plan is all about trust. It is about establishing trust by doing the right thing, and by doing it in the right way.

If we can accomplish what we propose--and I have no doubt that we can and will--then we will strengthen the trust of the public that we serve. I would like to thank all the FDA employees from across the agency who contributed their ideas, suggestions, experience and talent to this strategic plan. I would also like to thank each and every FDA employee for their dedication to our public health mission. It is an honor to serve as Commissioner of Food & Drugs, and I look forward to working closely with FDA employees and stakeholders alike as we strive to accomplish all goals of this Strategic Action Plan.

INTRODUCTION