WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation’s Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM program is awarding grants totaling $664,028 to three nonprofit organizations dedicated to improving cardiovascular health.
The organizations receiving the grants are Ashland-Boyd County Health Department in Ashland, Ky., St. Mary’s Health Wagon in Wise, Va., and West Virginia Health Right, Inc. in Charleston, W. Va. Over the last five years, these organizations have received more than $2.3 million in grants.
Heart disease accounts for 22 percent of all deaths in Virginia and 23 percent of all deaths in both Kentucky and West Virginia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.1
Since 2010, the Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM program has awarded more than $17 million in grants to 43 organizations nationwide. More than 40,000 people have participated in a variety of programs funded through Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM and, as a result, are making healthier food choices and exercising more. They are reducing their body mass index, lowering their blood pressure and hemoglobin A1C levels and learning more about nutrition and how to lower their cardiovascular risk factors.
“Cardiovascular disease remains a leading cause of death in the United States, which is why we must find new ways to help prevent and decrease the risks associated with this disease,” said James W. Blasetto, MD, MPH, FACC, chairman of the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation. “The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation is proud to provide funding to Ashland-Boyd County Health Department, St. Mary’s Health Wagon and West Virginia Health Right’s innovative programs to help improve cardiovascular health in their community.”
The Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM grant awardees are:
Ashland-Boyd County Health Department in Ashland, Ky.; $223,000: “Appalachian Partnership for Positive Living and Eating (A.P.P.L.E.)” aims to promote healthy childhood and youth development and control obesity among 750 children and their caregivers through a voluntary, community-based obesity case management program in Boyd and Greenup, Ky.
St. Mary’s Health Wagon in Wise, Va.; $250,000: “Heart Health 1, 2, 3. Comprehensive Cardiovascular Disease Initiative for Diabetes Mellitus, Metabolic Syndrome and Obesity” aims to identify, minimize and prevent cardiovascular disease in individuals with these conditions and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver disease (NAFLD) through the use of health education, screening and medication management, using a holistic medical approach and evidence-based practices.
West Virginia Health Right, Inc. in Charleston, W. Va.; $191,028: “SCALE (Sustainable Changes and Lifestyle Enhancement)” aims to achieve – through personal coaching, group support, nutritional education and improved diet coupled with exercise – sustained weight loss in 50 obese patients to improve their health status and reduce cardiovascular risk factors.
Organizations can learn more and apply online for a Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM grant at www.astrazeneca-us.com/foundation. Applications must be submitted online no later than 5 p.m. EST on Feb. 26, 2015.
About AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation
Established in 1993, the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation is a Delaware not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(3) entity organized for charitable purposes, including to promote public awareness of healthcare issues, to promote public education of medical knowledge and to support or contribute to charitable and qualified exempt organizations consistent with its charitable purpose. Connections for Cardiovascular HealthSM was launched in 2010 through a charitable contribution of $25 million from AstraZeneca.
1 Deaths: Final data for 2012. National vital statistics reports; vol 63 no. 9. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2014.
