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DR. HAGELIN TO LEAD CONGRESSIONAL FORUM FEATURING U.S. SURGEON GENERAL AS KEYNOTE SPEAKER: CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TODAY!

On June 3, 1999, at 11:00 a.m. in Washington, D.C., Dr. John Hagelin will lead an important Congressional Prevention Coalition forum entitled "Achieving Parity in Health Care for Minority Populations: Prevention of Hypertension and Heart Disease."

The forum is cosponsored by Dr. Hagelin's Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy.

Speakers at the June 3 congressional caucus include:

David Satcher, M.D., Surgeon General of the U.S. (keynote address) "Eliminating Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health: The Surgeon General's Priorities"

Keith Norris, M.D., Professor and Acting Chair, Department of Internal Medicine at the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science "Stress, Hypertension and Heart Disease in African Americans"

Robert Schneider, M.D., Dean, College of Maharishi Vedic Medicine and principle investigator on multiple NIH-funded studies "Stress Reduction in the Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease in High Risk Minority Populations"

Heart disease is America's No. 1 killer. African American men and women endure disproportionately high rates of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Deaths from heart disease are two thirds higher for African American women and one third higher for African American men than for whites. Excessive rates of hypertension, psychosocial, and socio-environmental stress contribute to high CVD morbidity and mortality in this population.

According to research, heart disease and its primary risk factor, hypertension, are largely preventable. Both can be effectively controlled through lifestyle modification and scientifically proven methods of stress reduction. These approaches are highly cost-effective compared to conventional pharmacological or surgical treatments for cardiovascular disease.

BACKGROUND

The bipartisan Congressional Prevention Coalition, cosponsored by Senators John Chafee and Bob Graham and Representatives Jim Leach and Jim Moran, serves as a forum for education and discussion of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of preventive approaches in health, social, and economic policy.
In the 1996 elections, Natural Law Party candidate Sarina Grosswald, Ed.D., participated in over 30 public debates and forums with Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), who became attracted to the NLP's principle of cost-effective prevention. After the election, Rep. Moran invited the support of Dr. Grosswald and the associate director of the Institute, Elizabeth Rice Arnold, in forming a congressional caucus on prevention and in seeking Republican cosponsorship.

ACTION STEPS

PLEASE ACT IMMEDIATELY! Contact your Senators and Representative and urge them to attend this important caucus--or to send their advisors in health care if they cannot attend. Many congressional leaders will be returning home for the Memorial Day recess, so if they have left Washington you can also contact them at their local offices. But we must act now.

1. Call 202-225-3121 and ask the operator for the phone/fax number of the congressional district of your city or town and the names of your Representative and Senators.
2. Ask the operator to connect you to the Washington offices of your Member of Congress.
3. Ask the receptionist at each office to please communicate to your Member of Congress the importance of attending the Congressional Prevention Coalition forum on Achieving Parity in Health Care for Minority Populations on June 3 at 11:00 a.m. in Room 2129 of the Rayburn House Office Building. Ask for a response verifying whether your Member of Congress will be attending the event.
4. Visit http://www.senate.gov/ and http://www.house.gov/writerep/ to send an e-mail to your Senators and Representative urging them to attend.
5. If your Representative and/or Senators have left Washington for the Memorial Day recess, you can probably reach them directly at their local offices. Contacting them locally can be very effective. If possible, set up a meeting and talk with them in person about the critical importance of this health issue for minorities and for all Americans.

We greatly appreciate your immediate action to ensure a strong turnout for the June 3 Coalition forum.