FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 19, 2008
DHEC wins national award for stroke awareness efforts
COLUMBIA – The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control won the American Stroke Association’s 2008 Power to End Stroke State Strategic Alliance Award, the agency announced today.
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Lisa Waddell, M.D., DHEC’s deputy commissioner for Health Services, and Dory Masters, director of DHEC's Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Division, accepted the award during Stroke Awareness Month at the National Power Awards Gala in Atlanta.
"We are honored to receive this prestigious national award," said Masters. "The Power to End Stroke movement in South Carolina is truly a collaborative effort."
According to Masters, Power to End Stroke is a national campaign that raises stroke awareness among African-Americans, who suffer stroke deaths more often than do Caucasians. These higher illness rates result in 10 years of lost life for African-Americans in South Carolina and a stroke mortality rate that was 19 percent higher than the national average in 2004 for African-Americans. The Power to End Stroke campaign mobilizes opinion leaders to become "stroke ambassadors" and strives to inspire African-Americans to reduce stroke within their community.
"DHEC employees throughout the state are a crucial link to people at risk for stroke – especially African-Americans, who suffer a disproportionate number of strokes and stroke deaths," Masters said. "DHEC is proud to report that 42 DHEC Power to End Stroke Ambassadors have facilitated 150 activities within 99 faith-based and community organizations statewide, reaching a total of 5,266 African-Americans – and we’re striving to reach many more."
DHEC's Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention works with community partners and health care systems to improve the cardiovascular health and quality of life of South Carolinians through the prevention, detection and treatment of risk factors; early identification and treatment of cardiovascular diseases; and prevention of recurrent cardiovascular events.
For more information, please visit DHEC’s Web site at: http://www.scdhec.gov/hdsp.
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NOTE TO EDITORS AND REPORTERS: A Stroke Awareness Month news release is available for tie-in's from DHEC's Web site: http://www.scdhec.gov/administration/news/2008/nr20080424-02.htm
For more information:
Betsy Crick – (803) 545-4496
Email – crickec@dhec.sc.gov
or
Clair Boatwright – (803) 898-4461
Email – boatwrc@dhec.sc.gov