_______________________, read first time and referred to Committee on
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION to raise awareness of heart
disease in women.
Whereas, Startling numbers of women die annually from
heart and blood vessel disease, affecting three out of five
women;
Whereas, The purpose of Women's Heart Week is to raise
awareness of heart disease in women and promote risk
reduction;
Whereas, Although heart disease is the leading killer of
women in America, claiming the lives of nearly 500,000
women annually, there has been no research on this deadly
disease as it affects women;
Whereas, While the death rate for men with heart disease
has steadily declined over the years, the death rate for
women has been increasing;
Whereas, A national study determined that Indiana had the
17th highest mortality rate for women with heart disease
among the 50 states and the District of Columbia;
Whereas, Between 1991 and 1995, 43,542 women died of
heart disease in Indiana;
Whereas, More women than men have died from heart
disease every year since 1984;
Whereas, Statistics reveal twice the death rate for a woman
suffering a heart attack, twice the wait for a woman with
chest pain in the emergency room, twice the incidence for a
woman of a second heart attack within the first two weeks,
two to three times the death rate after coronary bypass
surgery for women, and up to ten times the death rate for a
woman after angioplasty; and
Whereas, The Indiana General Assembly recognizes the
danger that heart disease poses to women in Indiana and
throughout America and encourages all women to make
themselves aware of the risk factors involved with heart
disease: Therefore,
SECTION 1. That we are joining together in efforts to improve
education about heart disease and the outcomes for women with heart
disease and ask everyone in heath care and our citizens to recognize the
importance of establishing medical treatments and gearing research
projects to help in the cause of women's heart health.
SECTION 2. That the Principal Clerk of the House of
Representatives shall transmit a copy of this resolution to the Women's
Heart Foundation.