You're the Cure advocates call on Congress to step up the fight against heart disease and stroke. Nearly 700 advocates, including American Heart Association President Daniel W. Jones, M.D., President-Elect Tim Gardner, M.D. and other officers wearing red will meet their representatives in Congress on Capitol Hill on April 28-29 to boost funding for heart and stroke research and prevention programs.
Youth advocates, researchers, heart and stroke survivors will make a personal plea to their representatives: Help us save lives.
As part of the American Heart Association’s You’re the Cure on the Hill, these advocates will urge their Members of Congress to support public policies that will help reduce death and disability from heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular diseases, the nation’s No. 1 killer.
During Lobby Day, You're the Cure advocates will ask lawmakers to significantly boost funding for heart disease and stroke research and prevention. Specific asks include:
FIT Kids Act
Cosponsor the Fitness Integrated with Teaching (FIT) Kids Act, which would amend the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act to make physical education (PE) a high priority in schools. The FIT Kids Act will encourage schools to work toward the national goal of making PE and physical activity a daily reality for all school children.
NIH Heart and Stroke Research
Increase funding for heart and stroke research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH invests only seven percent of its budget on heart research and one percent on stroke. Over the past five years, NIH funding for cardiovascular research has declined by fifteen percent, adjusted to medical inflation. We must increase our investment in NIH heart and stroke research to relieve the burden these diseases impose on our nation's health and economy and bring us closer to a cure.
CDC Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program
Increase funding for the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, which provides grants to states to implement programs to reduce risk factors for heart disease and stroke, improve emergency response and quality care, and eliminate treatment disparties. Heart disease, stroke and other forms of cardiovascular disease remain the No. 1 killer in every state; however, only 13 states receive funding from this program.
Increase funding for CDC's Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) Program. This program screens uninsured, under-insured and low-income women ages 40 to 64 for heart disease and stroke risk.
