On May 3, CVS Health announced new initiatives to support women’s health and wellness in May, including offering no-cost heart health screenings from May 9 through May 15 at MinuteClinic to help women understand their risk for heart disease the number one killer of women. These efforts are part of CVS Health’s overall commitment to making women’s health care more accessible, affordable, simpler and more personalized to meet the unique health and wellness needs during each stage of a woman’s life.
“Women have taken on even more during the pandemic and have had less time to prioritize preventative care,” said Eileen Howard Boone, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility & Philanthropy and Chief Sustainability Officer for CVS Health. “As we celebrate moms and all the women in our lives this month, we want to make it easier for women to care for themselves and meet their health and wellness needs. Advancing women’s health is a key driver of CVS Health’s longtime support of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women Movement, which we are proud to again support this May.”
The Most Common Women’s Diseases in US
In the United States, women generally live long and healthy lives when compared to other less developed countries, but they still face many health issues involving cancer, disease, mental health, and fertility. In 2017, heart disease and cancer were the leading causes of death among women in the U.S., accounting for a combined 43 percent of all female deaths.
The most common type of cancer among women in the U.S. is breast cancer, of which there will be an estimated 268,600 new cases in 2019. Although rates of breast cancer have increased, deaths have been steadily decreasing since 1950. Similarly, although heart diseases are the leading cause of death among women, rates of death from such diseases have decreased over the past 60 years, reaching a low of 129.6 deaths per 100,000 population in 2017.
One of the most important times in a woman’s life to be healthy is during pregnancy, as the health of the unborn baby depends on the health of the mother. Between 2013 and 2015, half of women aged 15 to 44 years expected to have a child in the future. In 2017, around 32 percent of these births were by cesarean delivery. However, despite the importance of being healthy during pregnancy, around a quarter of women who gave birth in 2015 were obese prior to becoming pregnant. This problem will most likely increase in the future as overweight and obesity rates in the U.S. continue to rise among men and women alike.
One of the most common diseases is a heart disease. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing 299,578 women in 2017—or about 1 in every 5 female deaths. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for African American and white women in the United States.
MinuteClinic Screening For Women’s Health Assessment
To help make preventative care more convenient and accessible, patients can visit one of CVS Health’s approximately 1,100 MinuteClinic locations from May 9 through May 15 to receive a no-cost “Know Your Numbers” heart health screening. Patients will learn five key personal health numbers that can help them determine their risk for heart disease, including cholesterol, HDL (good) cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and body mass index.
“We know that nearly 80 percent of cardiac events can be prevented, yet many women don’t have the awareness about this disease to understand and prevent their risk,” said Angela Patterson, Chief Nurse Practitioner Officer, MinuteClinic. “That’s why offering these free heart health screenings is so important, especially this year when so many people have put off care.”
In addition to the free heart health screenings, CVS Pharmacy will provide accessible solutions and special offers to support women’s physical and mental wellbeing. From now through May 22, ExtraCare Rewards program members will receive deals on women’s wellness items in-store, including weekly promotions for products in a variety of categories such as vitamins, skin care as well as feminine care and beauty products to help women feel their best.
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