WOMEN’S HEART HEALTH GETS MAJOR ADVOCACY PUSHThe World Heart Federation is developing an international campaign under the Go Red for Women banner to improve the response to women’s biggest killer – cardiovascular disease. Based on the successful American Heart Association Go Red for Women campaign, the World Heart Federation will work closely with members to develop nationally appropriate programmes. The Go Red for Women campaign seeks to reduce the epidemic of cardiovascular disease in women through improved prevention, early diagnosis and treatment. The campaign means to accomplish its goal by:
Why a Go Red for Women campaign?Cardiovascular disease is by far women’s greatest health threat, killing about 8.6 million of them per year – or more than HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, cancer and malaria combined. Contrary to the popular belief that heart attacks and strokes are endemic to rich countries alone, eight of out 10 of the deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries. “Women face major risk factors for heart disease and stroke, such as high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, tobacco smoke, physical inactivity, overweight and diabetes,” said World Heart Federation Chief Executive Officer Janet Voûte. “The Go Red for Women campaign will raise awareness among women of their risks and what they can do to address them.” The persistent myth of women’s invulnerability to cardiovascular disease and medicine’s narrow focus on women’s reproductive health significantly add to their risks. For example, many women fail to recognise their own acute cardiac symptoms. And women are 40% less likely than men to be diagnosed with a myocardial infarction. Prevention worksThe good news, as the campaign emphasises, is that cardiovascular disease is largely preventable and that women can do a lot to protect themselves, such as by eating healthily and exercising regularly. The campaign is being phased in over the next five years. The initial phase, which began in February, concentrates on building awareness. Tool kit developedThe World Heart Federation has designed a tool kit for its members to ensure consistent messaging in each country, to give members various advocacy, sponsorship and fundraising ideas and to share best practices on the development of sustainable campaigns. The tool kit is available at http://www.worldheart.org/members-only/members-only-grfw-toolkit.php. Elizabeth Arden, Inc., enlists as corporate supporterElizabeth Arden, Inc., the global prestige beauty products company, has signed an agreement to support the campaign over three years. “It is our hope that by combining the power of Elizabeth Arden’s history of total beauty and health with the international Go Red for Women campaign, we can make a difference to women everywhere,” said the company’s Chairman and CEO E. Scott Beattie. To read the press release about Elizabeth’s Arden’s support for Go Red for Women, please visit http://www.worldheart.org/pdf/pr-elizabeth-arden-gored.pdf. The international campaign began as the American Heart Association released updated guidelines for the prevention of cardiovascular disease in women. The World Heart Federation is evaluating the guidelines to ascertain their applicability to the low- and middle-income countries that are the focus of its work. To learn more about the campaign, please visit the women’s heart health section of the World Heart Federation web site at http://www.worldheart.org/awareness-goredforwomen.php. | |||||||
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