The Epidemic of Childhood Asthma

“If you’re going to make a difference, then policy change is where the rubber meets the road,” said Floyd J. Malveaux, MD, PhD, the morning keynote speaker for Building Asthma-Friendly Schools. “We also need to talk with each other to assist these asthma students and help educate their families.” Dr. Malveaux considers himself a scientist who relies on evidence and from what he’s seen the evidence is mounting that creating an asthma plan is the way to reduce this quickly-growing epidemic.

The widespread and serious statistics associated with childhood asthma include: one in seven students ever diagnosed; nine percent of the student population has it; 60 percent of students had at least one attack in the past year. The costs are staggering: $8 billion in medical expenditures; an additional $10 billion in indirect costs; the humanitarian toll includes visits to the emergency room, missed learning opportunities and for some, death.

Dr. Malveaux suggested there are controllable factors that can help mitigate the impact of asthma including: stable and continuous health insurance; high-quality clinical and case management; continuous information exchange and progress monitoring; asthma trigger reduction in homes and communities; and research to learn more about what works.

Citing the Los Angeles Unified School District as an example of a successful partnership with ALA and CDC/DASH they provide case management for 400 children annually with excessive school absences, recent hospital care, and frequent emergency room visits. The results after monitoring progress for a year include a 76 percent increase of adherence to an asthma action plan resulting in less emergency room visits, fewer days wheezing, and greater school attendance. “I’ve heard someone say that health is not important,” said Dr. Malveaux, “to those I say, ‘health is indeed important.’“ For more information: visit Managing Asthma in the School Environment.