At
ACC’04, College hosted Community Event Highlighting Education
about Women’s Risk for Heart Disease
To spread the message that Heart Disease is the #1 killer of
American women, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) hosted
the ACC’04 Community Event at the New Orleans Centre Mall
March 5-6, held in collaboration with the American Heart Association
(AHA)’s Go Red For Women campaign and the National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI)’s The Heart Truth,
and sponsored by Pfizer. It provided heart health screenings
for the women of New Orleans and featured the New Orleans premier
of The Heart Truth’s Red Dress Collection, created
by top American designers. The event, which featured the red
dresses as the national symbol for heart disease in women awareness,
was held in conjunction with ACC’04, the College’s
53rd Annual Scientific Session.
First
Lady Laura Bush serves as spokesperson for The Heart
Truth campaign and joined us at ACC’04 in New Orleans.
The ACC shares Mrs. Bush’s commitment to educating women
about their risks for developing cardiovascular disease. Dr.
Pepine, who also participated in the White House launch for
American Heart Month, emphasized the need to educate Americans
about the risks of smoking, obesity, high cholesterol, and
hypertension, all of which can be controlled but, when left
unaddressed, dramatically increase a woman’s risk for
heart disease.
ACC’s
Commitment to Increased Professional Education
The ACC is committed to providing the educational tools and
content our members and other medical professionals need to
make real progress in combating heart disease in women. The
ACC, through so many of its initiatives, is truly bringing
science to practice, educating physicians on the latest science
on heart disease in women.
ACC
and NHLBI Work Together to Spread The Heart Truth
ACC is continuing its efforts to education about heart disease
in women through NHLBI's The Heart Truth Road Show.
From March to May 2004, The Heart Truth Road Show
is traveling to shopping malls in Philadelphia, Chicago, San
Diego, Dallas, and Miami to bring free risk factor screenings,
a stunning display of red dresses, and important heart health
information to women. Members from the ACC Chapters serving
those cities are involved as speakers for the kickoff in each
city, and as volunteers for consultations.
For
further information, visit www.nhlbi.nih/gov/health/hearttruth.
Members
of WomenHeart:
the National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease also
spoke at The Heart Truth Road Show kickoffs sharing
their stories of fear, frustration and ultimate survival and
strength. WomenHeart is the nation’s only patient advocacy
organization representing the 8,000,000 American women living
with heart disease that aims to improve their quality of life
and quality of healthcare through support, information and
advocacy.
Their
first-ever National Conference for Women Living with Heart
Disease and their Families will be held at the University
of California Los Angeles, July 15 -18, 2004. For further
information on the conference, click
here.
ACC
Supports AHA’s Go Red for Women campaign
In February, AHA launched “Go Red for Women”,
a campaign that focuses on women and heart disease and complements
The Heart Truth campaign. AHA is reinforcing the
Red Dress theme and wants the public and others to be aware
that heart disease is women’s #1 health threat. The
campaign includes consumer education and health care strategies
and will work with The Heart Truth to create a movement
for the cause of women and heart disease.
For
further information, visit www.americanheart.org.
ACC
Partners With Sister to Sister to Present Woman’s Heart
Day Health Fairs, Feb. 20
Sister to Sister: Everyone Has A Heart Foundation Woman’s
Heart Day was held on February 20, 2004. The Foundation held
health fairs in six major cities, New York, Washington, D.C.,
Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, to increase
awareness of heart disease among women and to identify those
with risk factors. Women participated in free screenings,
educational seminars, and fitness and cooking demonstrations.The
ACC partnered with the Sister to Sister Foundation to build
greater awareness of heart disease in women among its members
and their women patients.
This year nearly 500,000 women will die from cardiovascular
disease. As Laura Bush stated during her remarks at ACC’04,
“With the many risk factors for heart disease, a woman’s
greatest risk is ignorance.” Working together, we believe
our education efforts will truly make a difference. |
