On Oct. 30, the ACC led fellow stakeholders in submitting a sign-on letter to House leadership in support of H.R. 3592, the South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2017, sponsored by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Joe Wilson (R-SC).

Efforts to promote the legislation began during ACC's 2017 Legislative Conference when Fellows in Training (FIT) member and Grassroots Award recipient, Sandeep Krishnan, MD, formed a connection over the issue with Rep. Jayapal. This relationship developed into a series of practice visits and culminated with a briefing on Capitol Hill in April, featuring ACC FIT member Jill Steiner, MD, as a panelist. ACC members also advocated for the bill on Capitol Hill as part of the College's 2018 Legislative Conference.

South Asian communities have a risk of heart disease four times higher than the general population and face extremely high rates of diabetes. If passed, this thoughtful legislation would address these alarming trends by expanding grants for culturally appropriate outreach efforts and research. The College continues to work with the bill sponsors to identify opportunities to move the legislation forward.

Keywords: ACC Advocacy, Research, Diabetes Mellitus, Heart Diseases

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