Task Force

The Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force (Task Force) and the North Carolina Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention (HDSP) Program work to maintain North Carolina’s improvement in death and hospitalizations from heart disease and stroke, to raise awareness of these diseases, and to eliminate health disparities.

Heart disease and stroke are the second and fourth leading causes of death in our state, yet they are largely preventable. The Task Force and HDSP Program are challenging these statistics through a statewide public awareness campaign to raise awareness of signs and symptoms of heart disease and stroke and the importance of calling 911. Interventions for highest risk counties are also conducted through television ads and ground-based educational efforts.

The Task Force also supports obesity interventions and smoking bans in its continuing efforts to prevent chronic diseases such as heart disease and stroke.

North Carolina Medical Journal
November/December 2012  |  Volume 73, Number 6

The Justus-Warren Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force and the North Carolina Plan to Prevent Heart Disease and Stroke
By M. Anita P. Holmes and Elizabeth M. Puckett