Try this: pinch your nose and breathe through a straw. That’s what asthma can feel like, according to many who’ve experienced it. You can’t draw enough breath.
May 2 is World Asthma Day. For the 360,000 Oregonians with asthma, even a mild attack can interfere with sleep, school, work—even talking and thinking. Plus, the costs of managing this chronic disease add up to about $411 million a year in health costs in Oregon.
So, what can be done to help Oregon breathe easier? Here are a few ways we can all do our part.
Healthy home choices
More than half of Oregon’s asthma sufferers say they’ve never been told that changes in the home can help them! People spend on average, 90% of their time indoors, so the home environment is an important one for health.
What you can do: Learn aboutasthma triggers, from smoke and pet dander to cleaning and maintenance supplies. Download our healthy homes checklistfor ways to improve indoor air.
Clean up our outdoor air
We’ve got work to do. According to the
American Lung Association’s 2017 “State of the Air” report, Medford has some of the nation’s worst particle pollution year round. Eugene and Bend join Medford in the top 25 worst US cities for short-term spikes on particle pollution. That’s not good for anyone who breathes, but it’s especially hard on people with sensitive lungs and hearts. Here’s the good news: if we provide cleaner and more active transportation options, we’ll not only reduce asthma, but also help address the other costly chronic diseases.
What you can do:Act now! See our legislative update for what you can do to support diesel clean-up and healthy transportation options.
Create healthy schools
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America keep an “honor roll” of statesthat employ at least 18 of 23 policies that help kids breathe easy. Oregon is one policy short of the honor role! If we ensure adequate school nurses, create school bus idling restrictions, or any of 13 other recommended policies, we’ll earn our place on the honor roll.
What you can do: In Portland, voters can weigh in on a proposed bond measure that would begin to address the greatest needs in improving public school environments. Parents and neighbors in any area can help by setting up anti-idling programs at schools. There’s a great anti-idling tool kitavailable from AirWatch NW.
Support public health programs
Oregon’s asthma program makes sure authorities all understand our state’s asthma program and the most effective ways to address it—including reducing both outdoor and indoor air pollution. But the program relies on federal funding, as does more than half of the Oregon Health Authority’s budget. Supporting strong funding for health is one way to help ease asthma across the state.
What you can do: Ask both your state and federal elected officials to stand up for our natural resource and public health agencies in the budgeting process.
Registered nurse Helen Rodman and her team at the Multnomah County Healthy Homes Asthma Program work with low-income families to help them manage childhood asthma. They have a kit of practical tools to reduce asthma triggers in the home: mold and dust mites, pests and harsh cleaning chemicals. But when it comes to outdoor air pollution like diesel exhaust, they don’t have a tool to fix that problem.
“I can tell you that the people I
We all know someone who has suffered from asthma. It is the most common chronic disease among children and it affects Oregonians of all ages. And while pollen and weather are facts of life, the latest science reveals that common household chemicals and air pollution are also part of the problem–a part we can do something about.Learn more about pollution and asthma triggers in your home and in our air, and
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 16, 2023Media Contact:
Patty Wentz, patty@wentzjackson.com
503-970-7929
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Healthy
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