U.S. health officials are teaming up with insurance companies, pharmacies, health-care providers and community groups in a campaign to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes in the next five years, Reuters reported.

The “Million Hearts” plan announced on Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will focus on reducing risk factors through smoking prevention, blood pressure and cholesterol control and increased use of low-dose aspirin to prevent blood clots.

HHS plans to kick in $200 million in new and redirected funds toward the project, which marks a dramatic shift toward disease prevention.

“Heart disease causes one of every threeAmerican deaths and constitutes 17 percent of overall national health spending,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.  

Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the program aims to make the most of current investments and private-sector and community-based resources.

The program will focus on helping Americans make healthy choices, such as avoiding tobacco use and lowering consumption of salt and trans fats, and increasing use of treatments like aspirin and blood pressure and cholesterol-lowering medications.

In the private sector, partners like Walgreen Co will provide free blood pressure testing, insurance companies such as UnitedHealth Group, WellPoint, Aetna and Cigna will focus on reducing heart risks through programs aimed at their members, and pharmacy groups will encourage members to raise awareness with patients.

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Iowa’s largest health insurer, will not be directly involved in the initiative, but has a number of programs under way to help its members improve their health, spokeswoman Courtney Greene said.  

Yesterday, Wellmark announced details of a statewide program called Blue Zones, in which 10 communities will be selected as demonstration sites to receive resources and funding to help residents make healthy lifestyle changes. The program is part of the Healthiest State initiative launched this summer by Gov. Terry Branstad.