Women’s health issues focus of three-day LV conference

Tuesday, Nov. 13, 2001 | 9:16 a.m.

Assemblywoman Barbara Cegavske didn't know heart disease was the leading killer of women in the United States, or that it claimed more lives than the next 16 causes of death combined.

"My doctor never talked to me about it, and I never asked," Cegavske said Monday.

A health issues workshop sponsored by a nonpartisan group of female state legislators last year provided a wake-up call, Cegavske said.

"I tell my male colleagues, 'This isn't about women's lib, it's about life," said Cegavske, who will give the keynote address Thursday for a three-day conference on women's health, sponsored by the state's first lady, Dema Guinn.

During the past legislative session Cegavske was one of the lead sponsors of a resolution establishing a women's health care platform. The resolution called for an increase in both private government and public sector research on women's health issues, expanded medical and nursing school curricula and the creation of a permanent office of women's health at the state level.

"The goal of the resolution was to call attention to the issues and make sure everyone knew about it, men and women," Cegavske said Monday. "These are issues that affect all of us -- wives, mothers, sisters, daughters."

The conference at the Riviera hotel is co-sponsored by the Barbara Greenspun Women'sCare Center of Excellence at St. Rose Dominican Hospital.

Topics will include mental health, new treatment strategies for breast and cervical cancer, chronic diseases and HIV and AIDS. Health issues for women prisoners and women offenders being released into the community also will be discussed.

The conference is open to health professionals, social workers, law enforcement personnel and the public. The workshops and discussion panels will be led by experts from the conference's other primary sponsors -- the University of Nevada School of Medicine and the Nevada Department of Corrections.

More than 400 people are expected to participate in the three-day program, said Denna Devenberg, women's health program manager for the Southern Nevada Area Health Education Centers. This is the third year for the bi-annual conference.

The cost of the conference is $220 for health professionals and $330 for physicians. Participants may be eligible for continuing education credits, and the registration includes workshop materials and breakfast and lunch for each of the three days.

Students, with proof of full-time enrollment, may attend for $95. For more information, contact Devenberg at 212-8458. On-site registration will be available at the Riviera Thursday.