Women with diabetes have a higher risk of heart disease and worse outcomes than men with diabetes, and women of color experience disproportionately high rates of diabetes. WomenHeart hosted a HeartTalks to discuss these disparities with Dr. Sonia Henry of the Katz Institute for Women’s Health at Northwell, an NHA member, and to engage a WomenHeart Champion in a conversation about thriving and educating her community. Watch the webinar here. We also published a blog about why these disparities exist and how women can mitigate risk. This work is part of WomenHeart’s participation in Know Diabetes by Heart.

Vaccines play a critical role in helping protect women with heart disease and others with chronic conditions from diseases – such as shingles, pneumococcal, COVID-19 and others – that may cause more serious illness. Yet barriers, such as lack of adequate information about recommended vaccines and financial hurdles, lead to low vaccination rates. The Protecting Seniors Through Immunization Act is a bipartisan bill that would help eliminate those barriers for Medicare recipients. Tell your Members of Congress to support this legislation today.

WomenHeart, in partnership with the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, just released a new resource specifically for patients who want to take action to help improve the diagnostic journey for women with heart disease. This follows a report released last spring which presents ideas for patient-centered research that address issues of missed and delayed diagnosis of heart disease in women. The result of a collaborative meeting of experts funded by a Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award, these are great resources for those who want to improve care for women with heart disease.

WomenHeart’s Board of Directors has elected three new members to the Board. They include Adrienne Coleman, WomenHeart Champion (c/o 2020); Cherie Black, Global Managing Editor at Microsoft; and Rebecca Prince, former Senior Counsel at Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Earlier this month, WomenHeart joined more than two dozen patient groups and partner organizations to call for a comprehensive paid family and medical leave program. We signed on to support a set of principles that any such national leave program must meet in order to best serve patients, including women with heart disease. For example, a program must provide medical, parental and caregiving leave; it must have a broadly inclusive definition of family for caregiving purposes; and the compensation/ wage replacement must be an amount that allows the employee to reasonably afford to take the leave. We will continue to advocate for Congress to support paid leave for people with medical conditions and their caregivers.