Air Quality and Asthma
America’s low-income communities too often foster conditions that contribute to bad health. Polluted highways, idling diesel trucks and buses, poorly constructed, aging homes contaminated with mold, lead and other toxins, and deteriorating schools with inadequate ventilation contribute to high rates of asthma and overall poor health in low-income communities and communities of color. In fact, one in seven children in the nation suffers from asthma and the rates are highest in areas where the median annual income is lowest. In the fall of 2002, PolicyLink and The California Endowment published Fighting Childhood Asthma: How Communities Can Win, which highlighted the critical need to address childhood asthma with promising practices and policies. The field has grown considerably since then; new coalitions have formed, new approaches have emerged, and new policies are being advocated and implemented. PolicyLink is supporting and lifting up efforts to ensure that all communities can breathe decent quality air. Partners Since 2003 PolicyLink has provided training and technical assistance to build the advocacy capacity of Community Action to Fight Asthma (CAFA), a network of 12 California coalitions working to reduce asthma’s environmental triggers -- coordinated by Regional Asthma Management and Prevention (RAMP). The organization educates policymakers and the public about the causes of asthma, and has played an instrumental role in the passage of policies such as a bill that removes exemptions from the Clean Air Act for agricultural sources of pollution. This group has been instrumental in building capacity and leadership at the local level by mobilizing actions that led to regulations that reduce diesel truck idling and limiting the location of schools near highways. For information on CAFA’s activities, see www.calasthma.org. PolicyLink Tools and Resources:
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