May is Asthma Awareness Month

This is a great time for schools and other community organizations to join together and increase public understanding of asthma. Asthma has reached epidemic proportions in the United States, affecting approximately 20 million people of all ages, particularly children. Although asthma is widespread, public awareness of common asthma triggers and ways to manage asthma remains limited. In 1999, the Global Initiative for Asthma, a joint project of the World Health Organization and the National Heart, Lung, Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, established World Asthma Day (Tuesday, May 1, 2007) and Asthma Awareness Month.

In support of Asthma Awareness Month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created a wide range of materials to help you participate in local or state events. The EPA’s Asthma Awareness Month website includes a map of Asthma Awareness Month activities so that you can see what is planned in each state. There is also an on-line Event Planning Kit – a free resource for community organizers, health care providers, school nurses, teachers, and everyone who is committed to raising asthma awareness.

From the EPA’s Asthma Awareness month website, you can access the whole Event Kit, or just the segments that will be useful to you – such as How to Plan an Event in your School or Ideas for Asthma Awareness Activities. The Kit also provides ideas for planning asthma events in hospitals, libraries, state capitol buildings, or other community settings as well as a sample proclamation, a sample press release, and other resources to make it easy for schools and other organizations to organize outreach events.

The suggested activities are fun, educational, and easy to administer. They include:

·         offering asthma screenings and education on environmental asthma triggers and management

·         reading children’s books on asthma to students

·         arranging a school-wide assembly with guest speakers, such as kids with asthma, local celebrities, TV personalities, or local doctors or politicians

·         offering asthma education for parents at a local PTA.

In addition, the Kit lists ten ways to manage asthma in the school environment: use the IAQ Tools for Schools Kit; control animal allergens; control cockroach allergens; clean up mold and control moisture; eliminate secondhand smoke exposure; reduce dust mite exposure; develop an asthma management plan for each student with asthma; provide school-based asthma education programs; reduce school bus diesel exhaust; and gather additional asthma information and resources.

For additional information, please contact:

U.S. EPA/Office of Radiation and Indoor Air Environments Division
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Mail Code 6609J
Washington, DC 20460
Phone:  (202) 343-9370
Fax:  (202) 343-2394 or (202) 343-2392

Source:  EPA’s Asthma Awareness Month Webpage and EPA’s Asthma Awareness Month Event Planning Kit.