2004 Budget Reflects Mrs. Bush's Commitment to Heart Disease Awareness and Research

Awareness, Prevention, and Research

• The President’s 2004 budget provides $40 million, an 8% increase, for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to support state cardiovascular disease and stroke prevention, including a major health campaign to inform the public about the risks of heart disease and strokes.
• The President’s 2004 budget provides an additional $62 million, totaling over $2.2 billion, for the National Institute of Health (NIH) to fund heart disease and stroke research and facilitate innovation for treatment and cure of the disease.
• Heart disease kills more women than all forms of cancer combined. Mrs. Bush is committed to making women -- our mothers, sisters and daughters -- aware of their risks and of the steps they can take to prevent heart disease.
• The 2004 budget for the CDC and NIH provides a total of over $382 million for cardiovascular/pulmonary prevention activities and research related to women.
• The 2004 budget also includes $12 million for CDC’s WISEWOMAN program, providing women with screenings for high blood pressure and cholesterol, and other health interventions to help prevent cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases.

Overall Health

• Mrs. Bush also believes that overall health promotion is important to fighting heart disease and related diseases. The President’s 2004budget supports overall health activities for Americans, families and children.
• The 2004 budget provides $125 million for the Disease Prevention Initiative for intervention activities, including efforts to educate the public on preventing diabetes and obesity and alleviating health complications of asthma.
• The 2004 budget provides approximately $16 million for general health promotion activities within the CDC’s chronic disease center.
• The 2004 budget provides an increase of $150 million to expand and create 1,200 health center sites to provide an additional 6.1 million low-income and uninsured patients with affordable health care by 2006.
• The 2004 budget provides an increase of $43 million for the Nutritional Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to meet the special nutritional needs of low-income mothers and young children.
• The 2004 budget provides $5 million to continue CDC’s youth media campaign to encourage children to be physically active and another $5 million for a WIC pilot program to test whether obesity can be combated through activities such as nutrition counseling and promotion of physical activity.