Black Americans live with a stark and persistent burden of cardiovascular disease that continues to exact a heavy toll on families and neighborhoods. The American Heart Association’s 2025 Heart Disease and Stroke Statistical Update reports that nearly 60% of Black adults aged 20 and older have some form of cardiovascular disease, compared with about 49% of all U.S. adults.
Stroke prevalence is highest among Black women and men, and Black adults account for more than half of heart failure hospitalizations among U.S. adults under 50. High blood pressure stands out as a crisis, with 58.4% of Black women and 57.5% of Black men living with hypertension, among the highest rates in the world.
These disparities translate into disproportionately high death rates and an urgent call for lifesaving intervention. The Association is using Heart Month and Black History Month to spotlight the need to “close the survival gap” through education, advocacy and Hands-Only CPR training. With nine out of ten out-of-hospital cardiac arrests ending in death, learning CPR can double or triple the chance of survival, yet CPR is 41% less likely to be given when the person is Black or Hispanic.
“Black communities continue to face disproportionate risks of heart disease, stroke, and other cardiovascular conditions, leading to poorer survival outcomes,” said Dr. Keith Churchwell, the Association’s chief volunteer scientific and medical officer. He describes Hands-Only CPR, equitable care advocacy and heart health education as tools to “work with the community to change the future of health.”
See: “American Heart Association highlights cardiovascular health disparities in Black communities” (Feb. 7, 2025)
