Overview

Living and breathing with asthma has become not only a complex public health issue but also one of epidemic proportions. It is complex because of the many environmental factors that have been discovered to trigger asthma; and it is epidemic because since 1980 the numbers of cases have doubled to an estimated 15 million. 

The more we learn, the more we find we don't know. In this discovery process, it has been determined that three strategies will reduce the severity of asthma: eliminating environmental triggers, ensuring appropriate medical management and implementing surveillance that will help us gain a greater understanding of the problem. Public Health Grand Rounds will explore these strategies and profile a New York City community's initiative to beat asthma in the environment and gain control over this 21st century epidemic.

Goal

The goal of this Public Health Grand Rounds is to increase awareness of the asthma epidemic and promote a national dialogue among public health leaders and professionals on environmental risk factors and the efforts aimed at reducing them.

Objectives

• List three contributing factors to the increase in the severity of asthma.
• Discuss key factors that determine what is known and not known about the causes of asthma.
• Describe the importance of asthma surveillance in targeting interventions for asthma.
• Identify two community interventions likely to reduce the severity of asthma.

Audience

This Public Health Grand Rounds presentation is designed for public health leaders, managers, and professionals from local and state health departments, hospitals, clinics, academic institutions, managed care organizations, and others who seek to increase awareness of the environmental risk factors of asthma and the surveillance and interventions that are being implemented to combat this epidemic.

No presenter in this program has a financial interest or other relationship with manufacturers of commercial products, providers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

No presenter in this program will discuss the unlabeled use of commercial products or products for investigational use.