Heart Association honors Rep. Giannini

PROVIDENCE – The American Heart Association has named Rep. Joanne Giannini, D-Providence, as “Legislator of the Year,” hailing her efforts to create a cardiovascular screening and risk reduction pilot program for low-income, uninsured and underinsured women.
The award is given to an elected official at the national or state level who has been a leader in advocating public policies that advance the mission of the American Heart Association and its American Stroke Association division.
Giannini successfully fought to secure $60,000 in the state’s fiscal 2011 budget for the new pilot program, which will be run by the R.I. Department of Health and is modeled on the federal CDC Wisewoman Program.
The program will provide preventive services such as blood pressure and cholesterol testing and also promote better nutrition, physical activity and smoking cessation.
“Representative Giannini’s tireless efforts to establish and fund a cardiovascular screening and risk reduction pilot program will help save the lives of many women in our state,” said Lisa Deck, chair of the American Heart Association’s Advocacy Committee. “In addition, it could help position Rhode Island for federal Wisewoman funding in the future.”
Giannini, who lost her father to heart disease at a young age, has a close connection to the association. She also spearheaded Leading Ladies of Rhode Island, an event held annually at the Statehouse that raises awareness of heart disease as the No. 1 cause of death for women. The event kicks off American Heart Month in February.
Heart disease kills nearly 3,000 lives in Rhode Island each year, and about 37,000 Rhode Islanders live with coronary heart disease. Stroke is the No. 5 killer in the state, claiming more than 400 lives each year, and it is also a leading cause of long-term disability. About 19,000 Rhode Islanders have had a stroke.