White House Fact Sheet: First Lady Unveils New
Initiative to Fight Asthma
CONTACT: White House Press Office, 202-456-2100
January 29, 1999
The following was released today by the White House:
FIRST LADY HILLARY CLINTON UNVEILS NEW, $68 MILLION INITIATIVE TO
FIGHT ASTHMA
January 28, 1999
Today, First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton unveiled a new, $68
million initiative to fight childhood asthma through a
comprehensive national strategy that includes new efforts to: (1)
implement school based programs that teach children how to
effectively manage their asthma; (2) invest in research to
determine environmental causes of asthma and to develop new
strategies to reduce children's exposure to asthma triggers; (3)
provide funds to states and providers to help them implement
effective disease management strategies that will insure we lower
hospitalizations, emergency room visits and deaths from asthma; and
(4) conduct a new public information campaign to reduce exposure to
asthma triggers and dust mites.
MILLIONS OF CHILDREN SUFFER FROM ASTHMA Over the past 15 years,
the number of children afflicted with asthma has doubled to total
about 6 million. The most rapid increase in prevalence over this
time period has occurred in children under the age of 5, with rates
increasing over 160 percent. Over 100, 000 children are
hospitalized each year because of asthma, making it the leading
cause of hospitalization due to chronic illness for children at a
cost of $1.9 billion in medical expenses annually. Asthma is also
one of the leading causes of school absenteeism, resulting in over
10 million missed school days each year. Minority children are
disproportionately affected by asthma. Although African American
children under the age of 18 have only a slightly higher risk of
actually having asthma than non-Hispanic white children, they
experience a disproportionately higher rate of death from asthma
attacks, over four times the rate for white children. Many children
with asthma remain chronically impaired because they lack support
systems that enable them to effectively manage their own disease or
access sufficient medications or equipment.
DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW NATIONAL STRATEGY Today, the First Lady
will release "Asthma and the Environment: A Strategy to
Protect Children," authored by the Children's
Environmental Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety
Risks to Children, which is co-chaired by the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services.
This report outlines the first-ever comprehensive,
Administration-wide strategy to fight childhood asthma. The Task
Force makes four recommendations for asthma that will reduce the
incidents of asthma in children, as well as hospitalizations, and
emergency room visits for asthma. The four steps for federal action
are: strengthening and accelerating research efforts to better
understand the environmental factors that exacerbate childhood
asthma, expanding school based programs that reduce environmental
exposures to asthma, collecting better data at the local level to
track asthma incidents, and educating health care providers serving
low income children about the most effective course of treatment
for asthma.
LARGEST EVER FEDERAL INVESTMENT TO FIGHT CHILDHOOD ASTHMA
Today, the First Lady announced a new $68 million initiative to
address asthma. This package of investments responds to Task Force
recommendations and includes:
IMPLEMENTING SCHOOL-BASED ASTHMA PROGRAMS. The Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), together with the Department of Education,
will invest $8.4 million to expand school-based programs that teach
parents and children how to identify and avoid allergens that
trigger an asthma attack, as well as why it is important to use
their asthma medication and their inhalers. EPA will also expand
programs that educate teachers and school staff to help them
eliminate potential triggers from the school environment. With this
investment, over 2 million children will be able to breathe easier
in their classrooms.
INVESTING IN NEW RESEARCH TO REDUCE CHILDREN'S EXPOSURE TO
ASTHMA TRIGGERS. The Environmental Protection Agency will invest $2
million to expand its research into the role that environmental
hazards (including chemicals, particles, ozone, diesel exhaust,
pesticides, tobacco smoke and allergens) play in the onset of
childhood asthma. The Environmental Protection Agency will also
invest $1 million to conduct a pilot program to expand air
pollution monitoring in up to two communities downwind of
industrialized urban centers to better understand the relationship
between air pollution and asthma. These new investments builds on
the Administration's long-standing committment to asthma research.
This year, the National Institutes of Health will invest over $110
million dollars in research to explore the cause of asthma and
develop strategies to better manage the disease, and plans to
continue this significant investment in FY2000.
IMPLEMENTING NEW DISEASE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO TARGET LOW
INCOME CHILDREN. The Department of Health and Human Services will
provide $50 million in competitive grant funds to States who
identify and treat asthmatic children enrolled in the Medicaid
program in accordance with the new disease management guidelines
developed by the National Institutes of Health. These guidelines
will help to ensure that children receive the appropriate
medication and are taught how to effectively manage their illness.
Through this initiative, participating states will collect data on
asthma incidents so we can better understand asthma and effects. In
addition, HHS will invest almost $2 million to work with State
officials and other providers nationwide to help them integrate
these new strategies into their current patterns of practice.
CREATING A NEW NATIONAL PUBLIC INFORMATION CAMPAIGN. The
Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and
Human Services will invest $5.2 million in a national public
information campaign to reduce children's exposure to
environmental tobacco smoke and other indoor asthma triggers
through a national public service campaign that uses
posters, flyers, and brochures that identify common asthma
triggers, such as pet hair or tobacco smoke, and simple solutions
for eliminating or avoiding them; expands existing in-home
education networks, such as community based lead prevention
programs, and utilizes Americorps and VISTA volunteers to provide
direct assistance to parents in identifying asthma triggers and
implementing intervention strategies; and using health care
providers and managed care organizations to help parents
reduce their children's exposure to asthma triggers.
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