No, we’re not planning our outfits for homecoming — Friday is National Wear Red Day: a day to raise awareness around heart conditions and learn how to identify, treat and even avoid them. While all of February is National Heart Month, Friday puts a special light on how heart disease affects women.
Heart disease is the number-one killer of women. The American Heart Association reminds us that “heart disease and stroke cause one-in-three deaths among women each year, killing approximately one woman every 80 seconds. Fortunately, we can change that because 80 percent of cardiac and stroke events may be prevented with education and action.”
This is a huge issue for hospitals and health care providers of all kinds. We all want to see healthier people and fewer health care costs, but there’s no easy way to help millions of individuals live healthier lives. It means teaching everyone how to avoid and manage chronic disease, and it also means improving the medical care of people who are struggling. There are some amazing partnerships working on this at the national and the community level.
Heart disease is also an issue when we think about equity of care, and how well our health care system reaches those with different cultural backgrounds. The heart association has a special focus on Hispanic communities with its Go Red Por Tu Corazón campaign, and many of our hospitals and health systems also work incredibly hard to bring health to minority communities.
We hope to see you in red to help draw attention to this critical health issue! And if wearing red prompts you to add a salad and a 30-minute walk to your day, even better.
Sincerely,
Scott Bond
President and CEO
scottb@wsha.org
