Federal Plan to Reduce Asthma Disparities Released

Yesterday, the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children announced a new initiative to reduce asthma disparities among children, but especially children from ethnic minority groups and/or a low socioeconomic background. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Environmental Protection Agency and several other federal bodies have teamed up to execute a plan of action. Read the fact sheet here.

The initiative promotes collaboration among federal entities and streamlines resources and knowledge surrounding asthma health disparities among children. This partnership also encourages teamwork among individual, local, state and national leaders from various sectors. This forces us to think about asthma in a more holistic manner. Asthma disparities in the United States are not just a medical problem, but also the product of environmental and social inequities.


Asthma can be deadly if children do not seek routine medical care and do not regularly take the proper medication. Environmental factors such as air quality and allergens can also cause asthma attacks. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services spoke yesterday in Washington D.C. about the new action plan. She said the following:

Minority children today are both more likely to have asthma and less likely to be prescribed or take recommended treatments to control their asthma...Without health coverage, you’re less likely to get the preventive medicine you need to keep the condition under control, making you more likely to suffer an attack...you can get great care for asthma at your doctor’s office, but it won’t do much good if they don’t know how to treat it at your school. And you can have a great community health center down the street, but it will be hard to stay healthy if the air in your neighborhood is polluted...If we’re going to reduce these disparities, we have to work together, not just across the federal government, but with state and local partners, and community and private leaders on every front.

Collaboration and leadership among governing bodies is important, and is just one of many partnerships needed to end health disparities. United, we can enact change!  

Read more about reducing health disparities here.