— Local Health Departments in Arizona, Illinois and Ohio Will Each Receive $20,000 —

Washington, DC, January 19, 2022 — The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments, is pleased to announce new funding awards to support scale-up of existing cardiovascular disease prevention programs in communities with high chronic disease burden, and health inequities and disparities. Through the Leveraging Existing Strategies to Advance Health Equity in Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Efforts funding opportunity, four awardees will receive $20,000 to directly support existing programs between health departments and community-based organizations to advance health equity in cardiovascular disease prevention.

NACCHO will provide technical assistance to the selected sites to support their program expansion, health equity, and sustainability efforts to improve cardiovascular health. The four awardees are:

• Franklin County Public Health – Columbus, Ohio
• Ross County Health District – Chillicothe, Ohio
• University of Illinois Mile Square Health Center – Chicago, Illinois
• Unlimited Potential – Phoenix, Arizona

Every year, more than 1.5 million people in the U.S. suffer from heart attacks and stroke. Nearly half of U.S. adults have hypertension, but only about 1 in 4 has it under control. More concerning is that progress in hypertension control has stalled, and racial and geographic disparities persist. Greater hypertension control and the prevention of cardiovascular disease is possible, but there is a need for not only expanding evidence-based practices that are effective, feasible, sustainable, and transferable across diverse populations in the U.S., but also addressing the health inequities and disparities that contribute to the disparate outcomes of cardiovascular disease.

The awards, made possible with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, are being made available to local health departments and community-based organizations to reduce and prevent cardiovascular disease and control hypertension while also achieving health equity. Recipients will implement evidence-based strategies found in the Best Practices Guide for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Programs and the Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Control Hypertension, including self-management support and education, expanding self-measured blood pressure programs, and integrating community health workers on clinical care teams and in the community.

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About NACCHO
The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation’s nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.