WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with several partners, on Tuesday launched Million Hearts, an initiative that aims to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes over the next five years.

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

The HHS hopes that by 2017, 65 percent of high-risk patients will be taking aspirin and have their blood pressure and cholesterol under control. Currently, only 47 percent of high-risk patients take aspirin, and only 33 percent have their cholesterol and 46 percent their blood pressure under control.

They also aim to cut smoking to 17 percent of Americans from 19 percent by 2017, and seek a 20 percent drop in sodium intake and a 50 percent drop in trans fat consumption.

"Heart disease causes one of every three American deaths and constitutes 17-percent of overall national health spending," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a statement. "By enlisting partners from across the health sector, Million Hearts will create a national focus on combating heart disease."