By Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr.
National Newspaper Publishers Association President and CEO
2021 continues to a year full of health-related challenges to Black Americans and other communities of color throughout the United States. Yet, we should affirm fervently that this year has also provided more national focus on the opportunities to improve the quality of life of all people and especially those who have historically and contemporarily experienced public health disparities.
The Black Press of America is the trusted voice of our communities. Since March of 1827, the Black Press, with the first publication of Freedom’s Journal in New York City 194 years ago, has gained and maintained the trust of Black America on all the issues that impact our families and communities.
The NNPA, representing the Black Press, therefore is pleased with the ongoing strategic partnership that we have had over the past six years with Pfizer to effectively help raise public awareness and education about health-related matters with respect to African Americans and other people of color in America.
First, we are proud to state that the NNPA, Pfizer, and Howard University conducted the first national poll on Sickle Cell disease that revealed important information and data in 2016 about awareness on a wide range of issues concerning Sickle Cell and Black America.
Today, we note that for the past two years the NNPA and Pfizer have worked together raising public awareness about Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM): A serious and often underdiagnosed cause of heart failure in African Americans. A recent national study by the America Heart Association (AHA) pointed out that African Americans are disproportionately affected with heart disease more than other ethnic and racial groups in the United States.
The AHA defines ATTR-CM as “an underdiagnosed and potentially fatal disease. It’s characterized by deposits of amyloid protein fibrils in the walls of the left ventricle, the main pumping chamber of the heart. In ATTR-CM, the amyloid protein is made of transthyretin.” The amyloid protein deposits cause the heart walls to become stiff, resulting in the inability of the left ventricle of the heart to function properly that can lead to heart failure.
Thanks to Pfizer, the NNPA and other organizations that serve the public health interests of our communities are enabled to better inform more and more African Americans about this potentially fatal heart disease that disproportionately affects Black America. The Pfizer public information and awareness initiative about ATTR-CM is appropriated named “Voices for the Heart.”
This important and timely initiative is dedicated to raising awareness about ATTR-CM and Black Americans toward achieving the goals of developing effective and accessible educational programming, local outreach events, and helpful resources in order to (1) Explain the signs and symptoms of ATTR-CM, an underrecognized and too often underdiagnosed condition, and (2) Help those who are at risk for ATTR-CM to start the conversations with their personal doctor and other heart physicians about appropriate healthcare options and responses.
“Voices for the Heart” is, therefore, a welcomed Pfizer initiative that hopefully will be engaged and activated within our families and communities. We in the NNPA intend to help spread the word and to amplify the mission of Voices for the Heart across the nation.
It is unfortunate that there are some in leadership positions in our society who today openly deny the truth of science and facts in healthcare, the environment, climate and in other areas. In the age of so much misinformation and the tendency to be swayed by the absence of truth, facts and science, it makes what we do in the Black Press so vital and so crucial to getting factual and science-based information out to the communities where we serve and are trusted.
Our health is vital. Heart disease is a serious matter in Black America. Let’s listen to Voices for the Heart and let’s be informed and let’s take action to protect our hearts and our overall health conditions. Thank you for listening.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, Jr, is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Executive Producer and host of The Chavis Chronicles on PBS television stations throughout the United States and can be reached at dr.bchavis@nnpa.org.
