The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a campaign-The Heart Truth-to build awareness of women's heart disease and to empower women to reduce their risk. The Heart Truth and its Red Dress symbol are building awareness of heart disease and empowering women to reduce their risk. You can use these tools available at http://www.hearttruth.gov, for your own patient teaching or community event:

* The Heart Truth Online Toolkit is free and contains all of the information, activity ideas, and promotional materials you'll need to plan your own Heart Truth event.

* The Activity Registry allows organizations to share their ideas on this online forum. Browse the registry to learn what others are doing to help share the facts about heart disease among women. After you've planned your event, use the registry to share your activity with others looking for ideas on how to spread the word about women and heart disease.

* Educational materials for women about heart disease may be accessed and downloaded for free. These campaign materials are easy to use in many settings, whether you're working for a health care facility, business, nonprofit organization, government agency, or community group. You can order the materials online at http://emall.nhlbihin.net or call (301) 592-8573. Buy them at nominal cost and share them with your friends and family. Use them at a health fair, physician's office, clinic, hospital, club meeting, or your workplace.

Materials include the following choices:

* a speaker's kit for a 1-hour session, including reproducible handouts

* a 10-minute video

* brochures, handbooks, fact sheets, and posters

* heart-healthy recipes

* handouts tailored for African-American and Hispanic women

* Red Dress pins to raise awareness

* a printer-ready CD-ROM so you can customize your materials and then have them printed at a professional printer.

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