What is public advocacy?
Advocacy is the act of influencing decision makers and promoting changes to laws and other government policies to advance the mission of a particular organization or group of people. The American Heart Association’s Office of Public Advocacy in Washington, D.C., educates members of Congress, federal agencies and other health organizations about the association’s views and positions on public health issues, including biomedical research, access to health care, disease-prevention programs and tobacco-control efforts. The American Heart Association’s advocacy efforts move the association closer to its goal of reducing heart disease, stroke and risk by 25 percent by the year 2010. Key policy issues include: • Increasing federal funding for heart disease and stroke research and prevention programs. • Ensuring access to quality health care for heart disease and stroke patients. • Granting the Food and Drug Administration full authority over the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco pr
