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The National Alliance for Hispanic Health is in the midst of its 2007Heart Health Campaign which is bringing life-saving health educationinformation and cholesterol screenings to communities across the nation with aparticular focus on four major cities: Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; NewYork, New York; and Houston, Texas. More than 1,000 people have already hadtheir cholesterol screened and prominent elected officials have participatedin screening events, helping to bring the message to their communities.
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Thousands of people will participate in Hispanic community events thismonth where a team of health professionals will be on-hand to provideimportant information about heart health and provide thousands of freecholesterol screenings on-location.
Community Urgency
According to studies published by the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC), Hispanics are the group least likely to have been screenedfor high cholesterol, with between one-third and one-half of all Hispanics notscreened within the past 5 years. Of those found to have high cholesterol inclinical research, only half were aware they had high cholesterol. Highcholesterol does not have physical symptoms, a fact that makes this campaign'spublic education and screening events so important.
"The free cholesterol screenings we have brought to communities have savedlives," said Dr. Jane L. Delgado, President and CEO of the National Alliancefor Hispanic Health and author of SALUD -- A Latina's Guide to Total Health."We have an urgent message, one that has already reached millions of Hispanicsthrough our work this summer and we are committed to doing even more todeliver screening and education as part of Cholesterol Awareness Month."
Important Timing for This Campaign
Cholesterol Awareness Month, which coincides with Hispanic Heritage Month(September 15 - October 15) was designated by the National Institutes ofHealth's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and provides news mediawith a unique opportunity to share information about hearth health, includingthe importance of cholesterol screenings.
The Alliance effort is part of the Alliance's Para un corazon saludable(translation: For a healthy heart), a new educational initiative funded by aneducational grant from AstraZeneca aimed at improving awareness andunderstanding of heart disease risk factors, including high cholesterol, amongHispanics.
As part of the screening and educational campaign, Alliance organizationshave been jointly conducting a major four-city survey on health issues togauge additional community challenges. The results of the survey will bereleased in November at a meeting of leaders in Hispanic cardiology inOrlando, Florida.
"The more we can understand the health challenges Hispanic communitiesface the better equipped our doctors and other professionals in the healthcare system will be to provide appropriate care and advice to our patients,"said Jack Lewin, M.D., CEO of the American College of Cardiology.
Contacting the Alliance
Given our community's high use of mobile technologies, the Alliance'sHeart Health Campaign is also reaching Hispanic families through an innovativetwo-part campaign that will publicize both a new text message campaign (sendthe message "CORAZON" or "HEART" to the text message number 30644) and the1-866-SU-FAMILIA Family Healt
