HONORARY CHAIRMAN
HONORABLE FLLIOT L RICHARDSON

CHAIRMAN
MICHAEL F. DF BAKEY, MD.

VICE CHAIRMEN
THEODORE. COOPER. M.D.
JAMES HUNT. MD

MARVIN MOSER, MD.

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CITIZENS FOR THE TREATMENT OF HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, INC.

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ATTACHMENT G

Listing of Programs and Topics Discussed at January 16th

Dinner Meeting

It is not really very helpful to list in order of priority the
19 topics discussed at the dinner meeting. To my way of thinking,
some of them are of little or no importance anyway. So | will
just list in no precise order of importance those objectives which
are of major importance:

1. Scientific Papers: It is extremely important to translate
some of the technical documents into lay language. This occurred
to me with particular force when | read over, very carefully, the
complete Minutes of the January 16th meeting. For example, there
is a report on the seven-state demonsiration program in which these
seven states were given additional money ($600,000 a year over a
five-year period) to experiment with improvements in hypertension
education and follow up. A great deal of government money was
invested in this, yet the return is surprisingly meager. Percentage
increases over a three or four-year period as reported by the
various states is enough to prove the validity of Gramm-Rudman.
Furthermore, the slides were unnecessarily complex. In many
cases the excessive use of slides is a substitute for thinking. The .
central point of this comment is that the staff at NHLBI should examine

 

 

every document or publication in terms of how it will be understood,
not only by the general public but by the general physician.

2. Meetings with Representatives of Drug Companies: We
need much more of this. Those purists who think that meetings
with drug company representatives is living in sin should go back
to the monastery. In toto, the drug companies probably do more
public education in high blood pressure than the NHLBI -- they
use advertising, they put out beautifully-designed pamphlets, elaborate
video tapes and so on. Furthermore, their research budgets have in-
creased enormously over the past 15 years. We should know the
areas of their major research concentration. For example, MERCK

last year spent $450,000,000 on research alone.

For The Prevention of Heart Disease, Stroke and Kidney Failure
ATTACHMENT G (Continued)
Citizens for the Treatment of
High Blood Pressure, Inc.

Page 2.

3. Prevention: Attachment G points out that prevention
was probably the most thoroughly discussed topic at the dinner
meeting. This is usually the case with prevention -- everyone
is in favor of it and dull, bromidic generalities pervade every
session. We really need a brainstorming session on how to
reduce these empty generalities into specific targets. For
example, in its current, combined High Blood Pressure and
Cholesterol Education Program, Citizens has one target
logo -- "HEALTHY HEART DAY."

4. Priorities: Community programs in high blood pressure
do need suggestions as to the establishment of priorities. Many
of them are still devoting an excessive amount of time to simple
screening. However, quite a few of these state and local programs >
mainly because of limitation of funds, do a better job of setting
priorities than the National Program.

5. Insurance Companies: | was a member of the Task Force

 

which recommended that the life insurance companies inform their
policyholders that when they brought their blood pressure down
to normal ,their excess premiums would be reduced. The recom-
mendation went through several versions and each time was
watered down until the final recommendation was a prayerful
hope rather than a clear mandate for this policy.

6. 1987 National Conference: There is a need to develop

 

a strong theme for the 1987 National Conference. The powerful
public interest in high blood cholesterol as a major risk factor
for coronary heart disease should be capitalized upon. Citizens
currently does screenings in both high blood pressure and
cholesterol. In our screenings so far and in reports | have seen
from the Framingham Studies, elevated blood pressure and high
blood cholesterol are synergistic in a high percentage of cases.

| have not dealt with some of the other topics listed in
Attachment G because they are either dull, redundant, or a
waste of time.

HEE RHEE RHE