By Special to the Daily World
Morehouse School of Medicine’s Women With Heart Initiative is educating Georgians about heart health risks and prevention tips for African-American women through a scholarship fund, fundraiser and marketing program.
The initiative is in celebration of National Heart Disease Awareness Month.
“Morehouse School of Medicine is committed to discovering the cause and cure of health inequities such as heart disease,” said Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, dean and executive vice president.
“We train primary care physicians to not only understand the biological determinants of illness and health, but also the social, and this will make a difference in the heart health of the nation.”
Women with Heart has hosted events in Atlanta dedicated to helping improve the heart health of African-Americans. The events included a Healthy Heart Screening on Jan. 31, Healthy Heart Luncheon on Feb. 1, Healthy Heart Breakfast for Men on Feb. 2 and Women with Heart Wear Red Day on Feb. 3. Each event featured keynote speaker Montgomery Rice.
The keynote address educated people on hearth health and tips, specifically targeted toward African-American women.
At the events, attendees listened to a keynote speaker dedicated to educating them on heart health, the differences in heart disease between African Americans and other racial groups and tips on how to improve and prolong their lives. In addition, the luncheon included personal testimonies of women who have survived heart disease.
Women With Heart also joins The Heart Truth to create a national movement aimed at delivering an urgent wake-up call to women about heart disease.
The Heart Truth campaign sponsored by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute is vital to giving women life-saving messages about their risk for heart disease and how to lower it.
The Women with Heart committee includes founder and chairwoman, Eilene Maupin, along with Sara Blackburn, Carolyn Byrd, D. Sarita Cathcart-McLarin, Sally Davis, Hillary Dunson, Michele Gandy, Linda Gulley, Audrey Hines, Lorraine Hunter, Cynthia Moreland, E. Ginger Sullivan, Yvonne Thomas, Hellena Tidwell, Janet Turner, Brenda Turpeau, Barbara Wiltz, Carolyn Young and Sonjia Young.
Morehouse School of Medicine focuses its research on diseases, such as cardio metabolic diseases, that disproportionately affect minority communities, and currently has a Cardiovascular Research Institute.
The latest research includes discoveries that can lead to clinical interventions to prevent stroke.