About Million Hearts®
Every year, more than 1.5 million people in the United States suffer a heart attack or stroke.1 And while death rates due to heart disease have been declining steadily for the last 40 years, this trend appears to be stalling. Deaths in some population groups, including adults ages 35 to 64, are on the rise.2
This alarming trend points to the need to focus attention and action on improving the cardiovascular health of all Americans by helping people avoid unhealthy behaviors that put them at risk of heart attack and stroke and improving the care of those with key risk factors.
About Million Hearts® 2022
Million Hearts® 2022 is a national initiative co-led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)external icon to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes within 5 years. It focuses on a small set of priorities selected for their ability to reduce heart disease, stroke, and related conditions.
CDC’s Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention provides leadership and support for the Million Hearts® initiative, which began in 2012. The agency collaborates extensively with CMS, sets priorities, and leads the communications, partnership development, research, translation, and evaluation efforts for the initiative.
Targets:
- 20% reduction in average daily sodium intake
- 20% decrease in prevalence of combustible tobacco use
- 20% reduction in physical inactivity
Targets:
- 80% of patients age 18 or older with ischemic vascular disease use aspirin or another antithrombotic as appropriate
- 80% of patients ages 18 to 85 with a diagnosis of high blood pressure have it under control
- 80% of patients who need statin therapy receive it
- 80% of adult tobacco users receive counseling to help them quit
- 70% of eligible patients participate in cardiac rehab
Target groups:
- Black/African American people with high blood pressure
- People ages 35 to 64
- People who have had a heart attack or stroke
- People with mental and/or substance use disorders who use tobacco
What You Can Do to Support Million Hearts®
- Explore the site and find tools, protocols, action guides, and more resources to help you meet the Million Hearts® targets and priorities.
- Access drop-in messages and materials—including a fact sheet, sample presentation, and logos—that you can use to spread the word about Million Hearts®and your commitment to help prevent 1 million or more heart attacks and strokes by 2022.
- Learn ways you can partner with Million Hearts®and opportunities to advance the goals of Million Hearts®.
- Read success stories about Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champions, and learn how you can implement their strategies in your practice.
- Check out the Million Hearts®2022 framework pdf icon[PDF – 81K] and commit with us to carry out the priority actions needed to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes.
- Read the Million Hearts®At-A-Glance pdf icon[PDF – 343K] to learn more about our current work.
Million Hearts® Reports
Read in-depth reports about the Million Hearts® initiative and important progress and milestones.
Million Hearts®: 2012–2016 Final Report Addendum
This addendum was published in June 2020 as an update to the final report, Million Hearts®: Meaningful Progress 2012–2016. Read the addendum to learn more about the cardiovascular events that were prevented during the first 5-year period of the Million Hearts® initiative.
Million Hearts®: Meaningful Progress 2012–2016—A Final Report
Million Hearts® has aligned efforts across the country to prevent cardiovascular disease using a select set of evidence-based public health and clinical strategies. Although final numbers will not be available until 2019, we estimate that up to half a million cardiovascular events may have been prevented from 2012 through 2016.
Million Hearts® 2012: Building Strong Partnerships for Progress
In 2012, the initiative’s first year, Million Hearts® built strong partnerships to ensure steady progress toward preventing 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017. Check out a few examples of how partners worked to improve heart health—a focus on the ABCS, using health information technology, and working in teams.
Learn More
- Preventing 1 Million Heart Attacks and Strokes
CDC Vital Signs, September 2018 - The Million Hearts®Initiative: Guidelines and Best Practicesexternal icon
Nurse Practitioner, February 2016
References
- Benjamin EJ, Muntner P, Alonso A, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2019 update: a report from the American Heart Associationexternal icon. Circulation. 2019;139:e1–e473.
- Vaughan AS, Ritchey MD, Hannan J, Kramer MR, Casper M. Widespread recent increases in county-level heart disease mortality across age groupsexternal icon. Ann Epidemiol. 2017;27:796–800.