[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S2316]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          HEART FOR WOMEN ACT

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I rise today to share my thoughts as 
the lead cosponsor on the Heart for Women Act, introduced by Senator 
Stabenow and myself along with 21 original cosponsors. Heart disease, 
stroke, and other cardiovascular diseases are critically important 
health issues that combined, are the No. 1 cause of death in all 
American women, taking the life of one female nearly every minute. The 
Heart for Women Act will decrease the burden of heart disease in women, 
which coupled with stroke will claim the lives of nearly half a million 
women in America in 2008; this is more than all deaths from breast, 
cervical, and lung cancers combined.
  A new study shows that while in young men under age 45, the heart 
disease death rate is declining, the rate in young women has actually 
increased and is now at its highest level since 1987. We cannot idly 
sit back and allow more of us to become part of these statistics, so to 
address heart disease mortality and these significant disparities 
between men and women, Senator Stabenow and I have introduced The HEART 
for Women Act.
  Our legislation, the HEART for Women Act, does three things: First, 
it provides the public with better information about safe and effective 
treatments for women by requiring drug safety information to be 
stratified by sex, race, and ethnicity. This information will help 
doctors, researchers, and patients better understand why certain 
treatments work better in men than in women. Second, this legislation 
expands the WISEWOMAN Program that provides free heart disease and 
stroke prevention screening to low-income, uninsured women. This 
program has been incredibly successful throughout the U.S. three out of 
four women screened by this program had at least one risk factor for 
heart disease and stroke. The HEART for Women Act also raises awareness 
among health care providers about the risk for heart disease and 
stroke. A 2004 survey found that less than 20 percent of physicians 
were aware that more women than men die each year from cardiovascular 
diseases.
  After all this, there is some good news--a USA Today article from 
January 2008 points out that heart disease deaths rates fell among 
women by almost 27 percent between 1999 and 2005; however, researchers 
estimate that epidemics of diabetes and obesity could threaten these 
gains.
  I encourage my colleagues to join us and support women's heart 
health. Passage of this legislation will ensure that providers have 
greater access to lifesaving drugs and screening services to prevent 
the rise of cardiovascular disease in women.

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