NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH |
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, February 1, 2001 |
Contact: NHLBI (301) 496-4236 Margo Warren, NINDS (301) 496- 5751 Eric Bolton, American Heart Association (202) 785-7900 |
The MOU signing took place in Bethesda at the National Institutes of Health.
The need for the MOU was underscored by the findings from the NHLBI-sponsored National Conference on Cardiovascular Disease and Prevention, which revealed that progress in reducing the death rate from cardiovascular disease has slowed and that there are striking differences in cardiovascular death rates by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and geography. The MOU was conceived to address these issues as well as the goals of Healthy People 2010 to increase the quality and years of healthy life and eliminate health disparities.
The Memorandum of Understanding establishes four cooperative goals, as follows:
The Federal agencies and the American Heart Association will work to accomplish these goals through focused initiatives including: population- and community-based public education and health promotion programs; activities to bring about policy, systemic and environmental improvements in the nation's cardiovascular health care delivery systems; research; media-based public awareness campaigns about the warning signs and symptoms of heart attack and stroke; promoting professional education and training, including co-hosting of national conferences and the dissemination of "best practices" among the cardiovascular community; and other activities.
In signing the agreement, Robertson noted the continuing, pressing need for a national effort against heart disease and stroke. "Although many advances have been made in the fight against heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases, these maladies continue to kill nearly 950,000 Americans each year, more than the next six leading causes of death combined," Robertson said.
Stroke remains the nation's number three killer, and all cardiovascular diseases are a major cause of long-term disability in this country, Satcher added. He noted that in 2001, cardiovascular diseases are expected to cost the nation nearly $300 billion in medical costs and lost productivity. All told, about 61 million Americans are currently suffering from some form of cardiovascular disease.
Robertson concluded, "By coordinating with the government's Healthy People 2010 initiative, and closely aligning our mutual goals and efforts, we can make a major contribution to the nation's cardiovascular health by achieving the goals set out in this landmark Memorandum of Understanding."
For more information, visit: www.nhlbi.nih.gov; www.americanheart.org; www.ninds.nih.gov; www.surgeongeneral.gov; www.cdc.gov; http://www.health.gov/healthypeople.