00                   HOUSE CONCURRENT  RESOLUTION NO. 10                                                                  
01 Proclaiming February 2022 as American Heart Month.                                                                      
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03       WHEREAS cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States;                                
04 and                                                                                                                     
05       WHEREAS, according to the most recently available data, 4.3 percent of adults in the                              
06 state, translating to more than 24,000 Alaskans, report being diagnosed with cardiovascular                             
07 disease, and cardiovascular disease is the second leading cause of death in the state; and                              
08       WHEREAS, according to the most recently available data, 2.2 percent of adults in the                              
09 state, or approximately 15,000 Alaskans, have suffered from a stroke, and stroke is the fifth                           
10 leading cause of death in the state; and                                                                                
11       WHEREAS approximately 32 percent of cardiovascular disease cases are caused by                                    
12 genetic factors; and                                                                                                    
13       WHEREAS the age-adjusted death rate attributable to cardiovascular disease is                                     
14 approximately 217 for every 100,000 people; and                                                                         
15       WHEREAS cardiovascular disease is the costliest disease in the nation, with direct                                
16 and indirect costs estimated to be $363,000,000,000 a year; and                                                         

01       WHEREAS cardiovascular disease accounts for one out of three deaths nationwide;                                   
02 and                                                                                                                     
03       WHEREAS approximately 2,380 Americans die of cardiovascular disease each day,                                     
04 an average of one death every 36 seconds; and                                                                           
05       WHEREAS nearly 33 percent of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease occur in                                     
06 people under 75 years of age; and                                                                                       
07       WHEREAS, every year, about 805,000 people in the United States have a heart                                       
08 attack; of these, 605,000 are a first heart attack, 200,000 happen to people who have already                           
09 had a heart attack, and about 1 in 5 is a silent heart attack; and                                                      
10 WHEREAS, on average, someone in the United States has a stroke every 40 seconds,                                        
11 someone dies of a stroke every 4 minutes, and there are about 795,000 new or recurrent                                  
12 strokes each year; and                                                                                                  
13 WHEREAS 121,500,000, or 47 percent of adults in the United States, have                                                 
14 hypertension; and                                                                                                       
15 WHEREAS the research is clear that there are preventive strategies, as well as                                          
16 community-based strategies, that can increase survival rates from cardiovascular disease; and                           
17 WHEREAS the American Heart Association's 2030 impact goal seeks to equitably                                            
18 increase healthy life expectancy from 66 years of age to at least 68 years of age by 2030                               
19 across the United States; and                                                                                           
20 WHEREAS the American Heart Association encourages citizens to help save lives by                                        
21 calling 911 if symptoms occur, to become trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and to                               
22 encourage the installation of comprehensive automated external defibrillator programs in their                          
23 communities; and                                                                                                        
24 WHEREAS the American Heart Association is celebrating February 2022 as                                                  
25 American Heart Month and promoting education and awareness by encouraging citizens to                                   
26 learn the warning signs of heart attack and stroke;                                                                     
27 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature designates February 2022 as                                            
28 American Heart Month in recognition of the importance of the ongoing fight against heart                                
29 disease; and be it                                                                                                      
30 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges all citizens to                                                
31 recognize the critical importance of tools and skills that increase survival rates from cardiac                         

01 arrest and to recognize that, by incorporating those tools and skills into aggressive programs,                         
02 thousands of lives can be saved each year.