The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), enacted in 2010, directs the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to convene an independent Community Preventive Services Task Force (Task Force). Under this legislation, the Task Force is mandated to provide yearly reports to Congress and to agencies related to the work of the Task Force. The Task Force's first report to Congress describes:

• The Task Force and its methods, findings and recommendations
• Research gaps that can be filled through additional research combined with evaluation of existing programs, services, and policies
• Priorities for future Task Force efforts
• Examples of how states, local communities, and worksites have used Task Force recommendations

Concurrent with the release of the Community Preventive Services Task Force's first Annual Report to Congress, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued their first report to Congress . The report provides an overview of the USPSTF and identifies eleven high-priority evidence gaps that can be addressed through targeted research.

The work of the Community Preventive Services Task Force complements that of the USPSTF, which makes recommendations about the effectiveness of clinical preventive services and health promotion. Taken together, the recommendations of the two Task Forces provide our nation with knowledge of how health is improved by prevention in both clinical and community settings. The two reports were submitted to Congress together to demonstrate the close collaboration of the two Task Forces, and to provide a full picture of our nation's prevention research needs.