EPA awards $600,000 to Oakland, Calif. health nonprofit to help fight asthma in schools nationwide

From EPA:

RELEASE DATE:   December 17, 2014

EPA awards $600,000 to Oakland, Calif. health nonprofit to help fight asthma in schools nationwide 

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded a $600,000 grant to the Public Health Institute’s Regional Asthma Management & Prevention (RAMP), in Oakland, Calif. to help school-based health centers across the country prevent and manage environmental asthma triggers for children.  Asthma, a chronic respiratory disease that causes the lung’s airways to swell and narrow, leading to wheezing, coughing, and shortness of breath, is the most common chronic disease among school-aged children.

“Asthma affects over 7 million children in America and over 900,000 children in California,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “EPA’s support for RAMP and its partners advances our commitment to help communities improve indoor air quality to prevent environmental asthma triggers such as dust, mold, smoke and poor ventilation.”

Under EPA’s grant, RAMP and its partner the California School-Based Health Alliance (CSHA), will: develop an Asthma Environmental Intervention Guide for school-based health centers nationwide that identifies actions to prevent and manage environmental asthma triggers at school and at home; conduct trainings at state conferences of school-based health centers in California, Michigan, New York, and Connecticut – all states with high asthma prevalence; and convene a national learning collaborative among school-based health centers in California and nationwide. 

“Children spend a significant amount of time at school, making schools a very important place to address asthma,” said Anne Kelsey Lamb, RAMP Director. “We look forward to partnering with the EPA, the CSHA, and school-based health centers across the country to collectively improve indoor air quality and reduce the burden of asthma.”

“Reducing exposure to environmental asthma triggers and improving indoor air quality can play a significant role in improving health for students with asthma,” said Kristin Andersen, CSHA Associate Director “We’re so pleased that EPA is giving us an opportunity to partner with RAMP and school-based health centers to do just that.”

RAMP is among eight organizations in the U.S. receiving grants from EPA to reduce risks to public health from indoor air pollution, for a total investment of $4.5 million.

EPA announced the grant award today with RAMP and its partners at LifeLong’s West Oakland Middle School Health Center, one of over 230 school-based health centers in California and 2,000 nationwide that will benefit from the grant project. School-based health centers are clinics typically located on a school campus to provide primary health care for students and families at no or low-cost.

While there is no cure for asthma, with access to medical care, appropriate medications, proper self-management, and prevention of environmental asthma triggers, people can control their symptoms. 

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About Regional Asthma Management and Prevention

Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP), a project of the Public Health Institute, promotes comprehensive strategies for reducing asthma that include clinical management and environmental protection.  www.rampasthma.org The Public Health Institute (PHI) generates and promotes research, leadership and partnerships to build capacity for strong public health programs. www.phi.org/focus-areas/ 

About California School-Based Health Alliance

The California School-Based Health Alliance (CSHA) is the statewide nonprofit organization that aims to improve the health and academic success of children and youth by advancing health services in schools. CSHA helps schools and communities put health care where kids are – at school – and our conference, webinars, resources, and technical assistance help school-based health centers offer high quality, age-appropriate care to kids.  Connect with us on Facebook and YouTube: schoolhealthcenters, Twitter: @sbh4ca. http://www.schoolhealthcenters.org/  

About U.S. EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pacific Southwest Region 9 administers and enforces federal environmental laws in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, the Pacific Islands and 148 tribal nations -- home to more than 48 million people. While great progress has been made to reduce smog, improve water quality, clean up hazardous waste and create sustainable, healthy communities, much work remains to achieve EPA’s goals of protecting our environment and ensuring public health. Connect with us on Twitter: @EPAregion9, Facebook: EPAregion9, and our newsletter:www.epa.gov/region9/newsletter Learn more about our work to fight asthma: http://epa.gov/asthma/ 

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