All female employees of Baltimore?s City Hall will have up to two hours off Friday to get their hearts checked.
Mayor Sheila Dixon made her commitment Monday to promote Friday?s Sister to Sister Women?s Heart Day Health Fair at the Baltimore Convention Center. She hopes citybusinesses will follow suit.
“[By] providing female employees paid time off to attend, these CEOs will not only be preventing a deadly disease, but also helping their bottom line,” Dixon said.
Last year, businesses lost $403 billion in productivity, health care and medicine to heart disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sister to Sister health fairs have offered free cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose testing to more than 30,000 women, as well as tips on how to improve health and
counseling about the meaning of the tests.
“Take those results to your doctor and do out what you need to and take the next steps,” said Kendra Hance, 33, a Baltimore County woman who had pre-diabetes conditions exposed by Sister to Sister screeners three years ago.
“My doctor put me on a diet plan. Along with exercise, I lost 57 pounds,” she said. “I took control of my life.”
Sister to Sister is a nationwide organization started in Washington, D.C., in 2000 by the wife of entertainment mogul Abe Pollin, said co-founder Sen. Catherine Pugh, D-District 40, Baltimore City.
“We?ve had more than 2,000 women participate in previous years,” Pugh said. “We want to double those numbers.”
Heart disease has long been misconstrued as an “alpha-male” problem, she said. “If you ask most women what?s the issue in health for women, they?ll say cancer. Cancer is an issue, but heart disease is the No. 1 killer.”
IF YOU GO
» Sister to Sister Woman?s Heart Day Health Fair
» 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Friday
» Baltimore Convention Center, Hall D
» For information, call 410-986-1275 or online at sistertosister.org
