Achieving health equity is core to the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Guiding Values, Mission and its 2024 Impact Goal to advance cardiovascular health for everyone, which includes identifying and removing barriers to health care access and quality. We address the drivers of health disparities, including the social determinants of health and structural racism, to truly achieve equitable health and well-being for all. The AHA has made a full commitment to health equity, including taking an organizational stance against structural racism and setting specific goals related to equity.
The AHA takes on the biggest health challenges, such as ending tobacco use and nicotine addiction. The organization has an extensive track record with national, state and community projects focused on menthol and other flavored tobacco products and advocates in support of public policy solutions that address the largest barriers to achieving equitable health for all.
Through the AHA’s Advancing Community Approaches to End the Burden of Menthol and Flavored Tobacco Use in Arizona project, we will build capacity and create environments in Maricopa and Pima Counties, Arizona, which are supportive of the adoption, implementation and enforcement of policy, system and environmental (PSE) changes to prohibit the sale of all flavored commercial tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. Partnering closely with community-based organizations and employing community-based participatory approaches, we will design and execute culturally appropriate strategies that significantly increase awareness of: a) how menthol and other flavored tobacco products create and sustain commercial tobacco use, and b) how PSE changes can reduce the use of flavored commercial tobacco products. Efforts will reflect the overall demographics of these counties in which roughly 1-in-3 residents are Hispanic or Latino as well as emphasize engagement with Black and LGBTQ+ communities which are disproportionately impacted by flavored tobacco products. The AHA will collaborate with the CDC, local coalition partners and other local organizations to deliver activities and interventions that support the CDC’s goals, objectives, and desired outcomes.