American Heart Association - Heart Walk

Building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

By 2020, to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20 percent.

In 1999, the American Heart Association set a bold 10-year goal: To reduce coronary heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by 2010. We achieved the reduction in deaths ahead of schedule and made substantial progress against three of the six risk factors. Our 2020 Impact Goal focuses on helping people build stronger health and a better quality of life.

We make an extraordinary impact through our wide range of lifesaving activities. Here’s how:

• Improving patient care — Patients are why. We’re improving the quality of health care by creating best practices to treat heart disease and stroke. Our Get With The Guidelines hospital-based quality improvement program helps heart and stroke patients get the best treatment consistently. Mission: Lifeline helps patients with the most severe kind of heart attack get the specialized emergency services they need to survive.
• Advocating for better health — Healthy communities are why. Our nationwide volunteer network, You’re The Cure, advocates for key issues at the national, state and local levels such as requiring physical education in schools, implementing clean air legislation and making AEDs mandatory in public buildings.
• Reaching out to populations at risk — People of color are why. Blacks have higher risk and higher death rates from stroke than whites. Our Power To End Stroke education/awareness initiative helps African-Americans reduce their risk of stroke. More than 23,000 opinion leaders — including mayors, professors, ministers and celebrities — are Ambassadors for the program in their communities.
• Raising awareness — Prevention is why. Heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women over age 25. But many women don’t make their health a priority. Through Go Red For Women, we’re raising awareness among women about their risks and empowering them to protect their heart health.
• Protecting the future — Our nation’s children are why. Nearly one in three children and teens in the United States is overweight or obese. As a result, more kids than ever before are developing high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes. We’re helping today’s children develop lifelong healthy habits so they can grow up to be tomorrow’s healthy adults.
• Educating Americans — Awareness is why. We save lives every day by providing information and education. We pioneered CPR and millions of Americans use our patient education materials and online tools to help themselves and their loved ones live longer, healthier lives.