The American Heart Association (AHA) is urging the new congressional leadership to take proactive measures to avert a cardiovascular crisis among aging baby boomers and place increased funding for heart disease and stroke research and prevention programs high on their health care agenda.
“It is short sighted to restrict funding for programs that can reduce the health care costs of the aging baby boomer population,” said Greg Leach, Immediate Past Chairperson of the Greater Southeast Affiliate of the American Heart Association, who resides in south Florida. “Our newly elected leaders must give biomedical research and disease prevention a higher priority for funding to prevent a crisis that threatens to erode the progress we have made to combat cardiovascular disease our nations number one killer.” An estimated 71 million American adults now suffer from heart disease, stroke and other forms of cardiovascular diseases. Studies suggest that increased rates of diabetes, obesity and other risk factors may reverse four decades of declining mortality. As the baby boom generation ages, deaths from heart disease alone are projected to increase by 130 percent between 2000 and 2050. Cardiovascular disease is also a major contributor to escalating health care costs. This year, the disease will cost Americans an estimated $403 billion in medical expenses and lost productivity. The aging of the population is projected to drive up costs for cardiovascular disease 54 percent by 2025. “We will soon face a crisis of staggering proportions unless we tackle this head-on,” said Leach. “A strong financial commitment to heart and stroke research will save thousands of lives of baby boomers and help prevent these dramatic increases in costs.” Funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has failed to keep pace with medical research inflation, resulting in fewer grants to new investigators and fewer discoveries that can lead to cures for cardiovascular disease. NIH invests a mere $94 per American per year on biomedical research and only $8 per American per year on heart and stroke research. The Association is calling for a five percent increase in FY 2007 to support innovative research that can significantly reduce death and disability from cardiovascular disease. The Association also urged Congress to take immediate action on other pressing issues. One of the key priorities is passage of the HEART for Women Act. The HEART for Women Act would authorize an outreach campaign to raise awareness about the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease in women; tighten Food and Drug Administration requirements for reporting gender-based data about new and experimental medicines and devices; and expand cost-effective screening programs for low-income, uninsured women at risk for heart disease and stroke. The HEART for Women Act was introduced by Senators Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Representatives Lois Capps (D-CA) and Barbara Cubin (R-WY). Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of both men and women. In fact, one in every 2.6 females deaths in the United States is due to cardiovascular disease. Modifiable risk factors include smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, being obese or overweight and diabetes. In 2004, the American Heart Association launched its nationwide Go Red For Women movement, a campaign that builds awareness, urges women to take concrete actions to reduce their risk of heart disease and raises necessary funds. Proceeds raised fun vital research that could lead to new advances in prevention and treatment as well as to fund education programs to teach potentially lifesaving information. Other issue the American Heart Association urged Congress to take immediate action on are the following:- Increase funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Division;
- Increase funding for the Rural and Community Access to Emergency Devices Program;
- Passage of HEART for Women Act, bipartisan legislation aimed at improving the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of heart disease in women;
- Passage of STOP Stroke Act, bipartisan legislation to ensure that stroke is more widely recognized by the public and treated more effectively by healthcare providers.
- Passage of legislation that would authorize the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the tobacco industry.
