The AAFP Board of Directors is "seeing red" -- or at least it seemed that way when it recently voted to support the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women campaign. The campaign focuses on raising awareness of cardiovascular disease in women.
The women's subcommittee of the Committee on Special Constituencies requested the AAFP's involvement based on the benefit committee members thought it would give FPs and their patients. According to AHA statistics, heart disease and stroke are the No. 1 and No. 3 killers of women, respectively, claiming the lives of nearly 500,000 American women each year. Visit the "Physician's Information" page on the AHA Web site for information and resources you can use to educate your patients about cardiovascular disease.
And don't forget the upcoming National Women's Health Week, May 8 - 14. The project is sponsored by HHS' Office on Women's Health.
National Women's Check-Up Day on May 9 -- an event billed as the nation's largest preventive care check-up day -- helps kick off the week. Community health centers, hospitals and health care professionals across America have pledged to participate. Check the NWHW Web site to learn how you can take part.
