Record in U.S. Name COVID-19 as Most Urgent Health Problem

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sixty-nine percent of Americans name COVID-19 specifically, or "viruses" generally, as the most urgent health problem facing the United States, a higher percentage than Gallup has measured for any issue in its trend. The prior high was 62% mentioning AIDS in 1987, the first year Gallup asked the question.

	Year	Percent mentioning
COVID-19/Viruses	2020	69
AIDS	1987	62
AIDS	1991	50
AIDS	1992	41
AIDS	1999	33
Healthcare cost	1992	30
AIDS	1997	29
Healthcare cost	2004	29
Healthcare access	2008	29
Healthcare access	2007	29
Note: 1991 data are based on average of two polls conducted that year.
Gallup

Gallup has asked about the most urgent health problem a total of 26 times since 1987. The latest measure was taken in Gallup's annual Health and Healthcare poll, conducted Nov. 5-19.

AIDS was the dominant issue between 1987 and 1999, ranking first in each of the five years the question was asked (1987, 1991, 1992, 1997 and 1999) and accounting for five of the highest percentages naming an issue historically, ranging from 29% to 62%.

In 2000, healthcare cost topped the list of concerns, with 24% of Americans mentioning it, while AIDS dropped to 18%. A year later, mentions of AIDS fell into single digits and have remained there. No more than 1% of Americans have cited AIDS since 2009.

Starting in 2000, Americans' health concerns have shifted more toward problems with the healthcare system than with specific health conditions. Healthcare cost or access has been the top concern for most of the past two decades. The exceptions were 2001, when bioterrorism topped the list amid a series of anthrax attacks sent via the mail; 2014, when the Ebola virus tied cost and access as the top issue; and this year.

With COVID-19 commanding the public's attention in 2020, just 4% mention cost or access in the latest survey. Four percent also mention cancer or obesity, with no other concern registering more than 1%.

	Percent mentioning
COVID-19/Viruses	69
Cancer	4
Healthcare cost	4
Obesity	4
Healthcare access	4
Heart disease	1
Mental illness	1
Diabetes	1
Government interference	1
Drug/Alcohol abuse	1
Other	6
No opinion	3
Gallup, Nov. 5-19, 2020

As would be expected, COVID-19 is the preeminent concern among all major subgroups. Democrats (including Democratic-leaning independents) are, however, much more likely than Republicans and Republican leaners to name it, 78% to 57%. Eight percent of Republicans mention cancer, 7% name obesity and 5% healthcare cost.

Americans who have a preexisting medical condition, or live with someone who does, are slightly more likely than those who do not to mention COVID-19, 71% to 66%.

Bottom Line

It comes as no surprise that Americans consider COVID-19 as the most urgent health problem facing the country, after millions have been infected and more than 270,000 have died from it. The virus has led to widespread closures of businesses and schools, and has transformed the way people live, work and shop -- at least temporarily. No other issue has been named by a greater percentage of Americans as the top health challenge than COVID-19 in at least 33 years, although AIDS came close in the late 1980s. COVID-19 currently also ranks as the most important problem facing the U.S., although far fewer Americans (28%) assign it that distinction than name it the most urgent health problem.

View complete question responses and trends (PDF download).

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