The NC Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Task Force (TF) and the NC Cardiovascular Health (CVH) Program have set out to attack the first and third leading causes of death in our state - heart disease and stroke.

Currently, one in every four North Carolinians has some form of cardiovascular disease (CVD). More than 40% of all deaths in North Carolina annually are caused by CVD, or one death every 20 minutes. These staggering statistics have earned North Carolina the ranking of the 15th highest CVD death rate in the country. These diseases are largely preventable.

North Carolina’s many fine medical institutions and health care organizations work diligently to treat CVD. But preventing CVD is everyone’s job. The Task Force and the NC Cardiovascular Health Program have accepted the challenge of leading the effort to prevent what can be prevented in CVD.