Lecture zeros in on health care as presidential campaign heats up by Dabney Weems As the 2008 presidential election nears, health care issues continue to be high among voters’ concerns. These issues will be addressed during the 2008 Presidential Campaign and Health Care Lecture at UM’s Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts at 11 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 28. The lecture will also be available live as a webcast at news.olemiss.edu. Dr. Daniel W. Jones, immediate past president of the American Heart Association (AHA) and vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at UM, will discuss health care disparities and the American health care system in this pre-debate event. The event is free and open to the public and hosted by the School of Pharmacy. Other co-sponsors are the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and AHA. “The university is fortunate to partner with the American Heart Association in planning events around the debate to sharpen the focus on health care as a priority domestic issue,” said Jones. “Members of the university family, including the faculty and staff of the health sciences campus in Jackson, are looking forward to participating in the discussion about the need to reform our health care system.” Jones serves on the AHA board of directors and is a member of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research. He represents the AHA on the National Institutes of Health’s National High Blood Pressure Education Program Coordinating Committee and serves as their national spokesperson on high blood pressure. He was in private practice in Laurel from 1978-85. From 1985-92, Jones worked in Korea as a medical missionary and served as director of the community health department and hypertension clinic at the Wallace Memorial Baptist Hospital in Pusan. In 1992, he returned to UMMC as assistant professor of medicine and director of clinical hypertension; he was named to his current position in 2003. Under his leadership, UMMC was listed among the nation’s top 100 hospitals in 2007, according to Thomson Healthcare. Jones holds a bachelor’s degree from Mississippi College and medical degree from UMMC. He is a fellow of the American College of Physicians, certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, and designated as a specialist in clinical hypertension by the American Society of Hypertension Specialists. “Health care reform will be a key issue that both presidential candidates must address in their campaigns,” said pharmacy Dean Barbara G. Wells. “Everyone knows that inequality in access to quality health care is an enormous problem in underdeveloped countries. But extensive data now show that race and place of residence can have a staggering impact on the type and quality of medical treatment a patient receives in the United States. It is the responsibility of every citizen, especially health care providers, to be aware of the factors that contribute to these disparities and to work toward solutions that will bring equal access to quality health care to all our citizens.” For additional information on all presidential debate related events, visit www.olemiss.edu/debate/calendar. For more information or for assistance related to a disability, contact Dabney Weems at dweems@olemiss.edu or 662-915-1015. To learn more about pharmacy education and research at UM, go to www.pharmacy.olemiss.edu. Back