Dear John ,

Many of you, our WomenHeart Champions and Friends, have asked us what you can do today to help promote women’s heart health research and issues WomenHeart supports that impact the lives of millions of women. Here is some helpful information for you about WomenHeart’s actions and actions you can take with a template to contact your Congress members.

WomenHeart had a productive and engaged Heart Month which we kicked off with our inaugural Heart Health IS Women’s Health Summit. During the Summit, we discussed the challenging policy environment along with over a dozen partner patient organizations and the following day, we held our Advocacy Day where 67 WomenHeart Advocates from 22 states had 99 meetings and hit 231 Target Districts.

During these meetings, one clear policy ask we made to members of Congress was to support the traditionally bi-partisan issue of continued and robust funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), especially for women’s heart health research. In 2024, the NIH allocated approximately $310 million for cardiovascular disease research focused on women’s health, a critical but underfunded area, and WomenHeart Champions requested that this amount not be cut, and even better, increased.

NIH and Offices of Women’s Health Research. Given recent cancellations of NIH programs, freezes and cuts in NIH funding and their consequences (NIH funding freeze stalls $1.5 billion in medical research grant funding : Shots - Health News : NPR) and in our role on the Steering Committee for the Friends of the Offices of Women’s Health Research (OWHR), we have significant concerns that the progress made in 2024 on funding for and progress in women’s heart health within the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research and across the NIH, will be dramatically impacted.

CDC and WISEWOMAN. Not only is women’s health research threatened, but the funding cuts in other federal agencies has direct impact on the health of women with cardiovascular disease.  For example, there have been deep cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resulting in the loss of at least 10% of their workforce. This year, the WISEWOMAN program, which falls under the CDC is up for reauthorization (The Women’s Heart Health Expansion Act of 2024 (H.R. 7482). This Act would expand heart disease and stroke risk factor screenings and services for those women most at risk of heart disease and provide referrals for health coaching, lifestyle programs and community resources. WomenHeart has been in conversation with Rep. Joyce Beatty who is leading this initiative, and if these cuts are made to the CDC, there would be a chilling effect on this legislation as it would prevent program implementation.

Veterans Health Administration (VHA). In addition, recently all health education programs for the VHA have been cancelled. This has impacted WomenHeart directly, when a program on women’s heart health that a WomenHeart Champion and US military veteran had planned for female veterans was unable to be delivered due to these cancellations. Women who have served our country, like all women, deserve educational programs that will help them understand risk, symptoms, and get care for heart disease for primary and secondary (after adverse heart event) prevention.

Now is the time to act. During this critical time when Congress is working to pass a budget and decisions are being made about what will be cut and cancelled, now is the time to have our voices heard yet again on this essential issue for women living with and at risk of heart disease.

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Subject Line: Support and Protect Women’s Heart Health Research

Hello (Senator or Representative) (Name of Congress Member),

I am writing you today to ask you to support and protect critical funding for women’s heart health research as heart disease is the number one killer of women in the U.S.

I am a woman living with heart disease and one of your constituents. I am also a volunteer (a WomenHeart Champion) for WomenHeart, a national nonprofit committed to improving heart health for women and a leading voice for the more than 60 million women in the U.S. who are living with heart disease. During this critical time when Congress is working to pass a budget, I am compelled to share my story as an example of the critical funding issues for women living with and at risk of heart disease.  As heart disease is the leading cause of death for women, I am very concerned about the numerous cuts and cancellations to funding for women’s heart health research, educational programs, community screenings, and how these changes have negatively impacted the Offices of Women’s Health Research across the agencies.

In 2024, much progress was made in the area of women’s heart health research by WomenHeart and partner organizations; however, women’s heart health research remains severely underfunded making up only 1.2% of NIH funding.[1] Investments in this funding can help reduce the $200 billion cost of cardiovascular disease for women, including healthcare costs, lost productivity, and premature mortality, and generates billions of dollars in economic activity for the U.S. ($92.89 billion in 2023).[2]

As a woman living with heart disease, this research funding affects me personally. (In 2-4 lines, share your story and why funding is needed for treatment options and cures.) Not only does this affect me, however, but it also affects millions of mothers, sisters, wives, partners, daughters, and other loved ones who are impacted by heart disease.

Heart disease research funding at the NIH and the NHLBI has been a bipartisan issue with wide support. Thus, we ask you to continue to support this funding, specifically women’s heart health research funding, with no cuts.

We would appreciate the support of Representative (Name) or Senator (Name) on this issue. More than ever, the decisions we make collectively today as Americans hugely impact generations to come. I look forward to working with your office. Please don’t hesitate to contact me as a resource for women’s heart health.

Thanks again,

(Your Name)

WomenHeart Champion

www.womenheart.org

[1] McKinsey Health Institute (2024, July 25). The state of US women’s heart health: A path to improved health and financial outcomes. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/the-state-of-us-womens-heart-health-a-path-to-improved-health-and-financial-outcomes

[2] National Institutes of Health (2024, December 30). Impact of NIH Research: Direct Economic Contributions. National Institutes of Health: Turning Discovery Into Truth. Retrieved from https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/impact-nih-research/serving-society/direct-economic-contributions

Hello (Senator or Representative) (Name of Congress Member),

I am writing you today to ask you to support and protect critical funding for women’s heart health research as heart disease is the number one killer of women in the U.S.

I am a supporter of WomenHeart: The National Coalition of Women with Heart Disease, a national nonprofit organization that was founded 26 years ago, committed to improving heart health for women and the leading voice for the more than 60 million women in the U.S. who are living with heart disease. I am also one of your constituents.

During this critical time when Congress is working to pass a budget, I am compelled to register my concern regarding the critical funding issues for women living with and at risk of heart disease.  As heart disease is the leading cause of death for women, I am very concerned about the numerous cuts and cancellations to funding for women’s heart health research, educational programs, community screenings, and how these changes have negatively impacted the Offices of Women’s Health Research across the agencies.

In 2024, much progress was made in the area of women’s heart health research by WomenHeart and partner organizations; however, women’s heart health research remains severely underfunded making up only 1.2% of NIH funding.[1] Investments in this funding can help reduce the $200 billion cost of cardiovascular disease for women, including healthcare costs, lost productivity, and premature mortality, and generates billions of dollars in economic activity for the U.S. ($92.89 billion in 2023).[2]

This research funding affects me (or my family member or friend) personally. (In 2-4 lines, share your story and why funding is needed for treatment options and cures.) This research also affects millions of mothers, sisters, wives, partners, daughters, and other loved ones who are impacted by heart disease.

Heart disease research funding at the NIH and the NHLBI has been a bipartisan issue with wide support. Thus, we ask you to continue to support this funding, specifically women’s heart health research funding, with no cuts.

We would appreciate the support of Representative (Name) or Senator (Name) on this issue. More than ever, the decisions we make collectively today as Americans hugely impact generations to come. I look forward to working with your office. Please don’t hesitate to contact me as a resource for women’s heart health.

Thanks again,

(Your Name)

WomenHeart Champion

www.womenheart.org

[1] McKinsey Health Institute (2024, July 25). The state of US women’s heart health: A path to improved health and financial outcomes. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/mhi/our-insights/the-state-of-us-womens-heart-health-a-path-to-improved-health-and-financial-outcomes

[2] National Institutes of Health (2024, December 30). Impact of NIH Research: Direct Economic Contributions. National Institutes of Health: Turning Discovery Into Truth. Retrieved from https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/impact-nih-research/serving-society/direct-economic-contributions

Thank you for all you do and for supporting women living with and at risk of heart disease.

Celina Gorre, CEO, WomenHeart