Every year heart disease and stroke place massive burdens on state Medicaid and employee health care budgets. Lost worker productivity from death and disability costs state economies billions more. Left unchecked, these already staggering expenditures will escalate rapidly as baby boomers age.

And yet heart disease and stroke are preventable as illustrated by the remarkably effective partnerships for prevention that some states have created.

For state officials looking to save lives and control health care costs, this March 31, 2005, Web conference offered valuable lessons from the field, including an in-depth discussion of North Carolina's pioneering efforts in this area. Policymakers gained concrete advice on the most promising strategies to get prevention efforts moving in their states.

Speakers included:

• Darwin Labarthe, M.D., MPH, acting chief, Cardiovascular Health Branch, Division of Adult and Community Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• North Carolina State Sen. William R. Purcell, M.D., chairman of the Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force
• Elizabeth M. (Libby) Puckett, executive director, North Carolina's Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force

Resources:

• American Heart Association's State Advocacy Contact List
  
• American Heart Association's State & Local Policymaker Resource Center
  
• CDC's Cardiovascular Health Web page
  
• CDC's Heart Disease and Stroke Maps
  
• CDC Fact Sheets and At-a-Glance Reports
  
• CDC's Cardiovascular Health publications
  
• North Carolina's Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention page
  
• CDC's Office on Smoking and Health
  
• CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation

For more information and a broader list of public health issues facing states today, click here to view our Public Health Issues page.