FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: HHS Press Office
Thursday, Aug. 5, 2004 (202) 690-6343

HHS ANNOUNCES INITIATIVE TO REDUCE THE INCIDENCE
OF STROKE IN SOUTH CAROLINA

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today announced grant of $616,079 in grant awards to Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C. This grant will support a new initiative aimed at reducing the excessively high rates of stroke, stroke disabilities and stroke deaths that disproportionately occur in the southeastern region of the United States.

The Secretary's Stroke Belt Elimination Initiative (SBEI) will award approximately $8 million over four years within the seven states experiencing the highest stroke death rates. In addition to the Medical University of South Carolina, the other grant recipients are Forsyth Medical Center Foundation, Winston-Salem, N.C. and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Working with other community-based organizations and health professionals, these institutions will implement and coordinate programs targeting stroke and hypertension, such as free blood pressure screenings and community-wide education campaigns.

"South Carolina has suffered from the burden of stroke for far too long," Secretary Thompson said. "Through our Stroke Belt Elimination Initiative we will increase hypertension prevention and control activities to eliminate untimely deaths and disability."

The 2001 stroke death rate for South Carolina was approximately 29% higher than the U.S. national average. The age-adjusted stroke death rate was about 75 stroke-deaths per 100,000 persons living in S.C. In 2001, about 2,832 persons died from stroke in South Carolina. In 2000, there were 8,141 stroke hospitalizations among adults 65 years of age and over living in South Carolina.

While HHS will continue its current efforts to reduce stroke across the U.S., the SBEI is designed to reduce the overall stroke burden among the population that lives in the seven "Stroke Belt" states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

The SBEI represents a collaborative effort among all HHS agencies and is part of the Closing the Health Gap Initiative, which seeks to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare. The SBEI consists of four core interventions including development and implementation of a community-wide awareness and education campaign, a communications network that informs individuals of the availability of free blood pressure screening activities, a component for health professionals that emphasizes improvement of blood pressure control rates for persons with hypertension, and a component for health systems and health plans that emphasizes improvement of blood pressure control rates for persons with hypertension.

The overall burden of stroke in the U.S. continues to be substantial. Stroke is the third leading cause of death and a leading cause of long-term disability among U.S. adults. On average, someone living in the US has a stroke about every 45 seconds. There are over 700,000 new strokes annually and about 29 percent of these are recurrent strokes. Over 4.8 million adults had a history of stroke in 2001. Stroke events are estimated to generate over $53.6 billion in direct and indirect costs in 2004.

High blood pressure and hypertension are the leading risk factor for stroke. Over 70 percent of persons with a stroke also suffer from hypertension. Critical risk factors also include diabetes, excess weight or salt intake, physical inactivity, and smoking.

Additional information on the Stroke Belt Elimination Initiative is available at http://www.omhrc.gov/omh/whatsnew/2pgwhatsnew/funding716faq.htm.

 




Last Updated 08/30/05