Winning with Asthma
October 21, 2008
Introduction
Good morning. And what a great morning it is outside M&T Bank Stadium on a Tuesday after an inspiring win over the Miami Dolphins! Things seemed to be running on all cylinders this weekend.
Thank you all for being here this morning to help us launch this exciting new program which will provide coaches with the education and understand to ensure that their players are able to run on all cylinders as well.
First, though, I’d like to thank Haruki Nakamura and the Baltimore Ravens for joining us today and helping us reach out to the community. And Emerson-Westside Coach Dante Jones – great win on Thursday night over City. Thank you for being here today as well.
Asthma in Maryland
We’re kicking this program off because asthma affects roughly one out of 10 Marylanders at any given time and one out of 15 youth athletes. And the prevalence of the disease is even higher here in the City of Baltimore and within the African American community – the hospitalization rate in Baltimore is 2.5 times higher than the state average, and African American children are four times more likely to visit the emergency room and three times more likely to be hospitalized because of asthma than white children.
“Winning with Asthma” won’t find a cure for Asthma, and it won’t necessarily lower the numbers of Marylanders who suffer from it, but it will allow more Maryland children to thrive on the football field, the baseball diamond, the basketball court, the soccer pitch and any other field of play imaginable. It’ll bring us a step closer to eliminating the disparity between white and black Marylanders. And it will save children from preventable emergency room visits, hospitalizations and even death.
The ‘Winning with Asthma’ Coach’s Clipboard Program educates coaches, physical education teachers, parents and other adults about youth asthma. It teaches them to identify warning signs of an imminent attack, how to manage their players’ symptoms, and it will save lives and money.
Save Lives, Save Money, Expand Health Care
One of the first goals Governor O’Malley and I set was to improve public health and save the state money while doing it. And in 2 years, we’ve taken large steps toward that goal: we expanded health coverage to 100,000 uninsured Marylanders; we fought to protect SCHIP; and we gave our seniors relief by closing the donut hole in prescription coverage…
Our asthma outreach is a smaller, more incremental – but equally important – step in that direction, especially because asthma touches so many lives: In 2006, nearly 10,000 Marylanders were hospitalized because of asthma-related symptoms – including more than 3,000 children. More than 44,000 Marylanders visited an emergency room because of asthma-related symptoms, of them, nearly 21,000 children. In all, youth asthma-related hospitalization and emergency room visits cost Maryland taxpayers close to $13 million each year. And that pales in comparison to the human toll we’ve paid with 27 Maryland children having died because of asthma between 2002 and 2008.
Maryland’s Measures to Fight Asthma
Maryland has taken measures to fight back against chronic asthma.
The Asthma Control Program was one of the first in the nation and is responsible for asthma surveillance, the creation of a statewide asthma plan and the implementation of asthma interventions through new partnerships with the public and private sector. The Maryland Asthma Coalition promotes collaboration between various public and private sector allies. The University of Maryland Children’s Hospital Breathmobile expands asthma care, education and case management services to children in high-risk areas, including African American communities in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County. And we’ve partnered with the Maryland School Health Council and local school boards to improve asthma awareness in the classroom…
With the help of ‘Winning with Asthma,’ we’ll be able to improve on these programs by providing adults with the training to save lives.
What is Winning with Asthma?
So, what exactly is ‘Winning with Asthma’ and how does it work? The program is a partnership of the the Office of the Lt. Governor, Maryland Asthma Control Program, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. In addition, we’re proud to partner with AstraZeneca and the Baltimore Ravens to help raise awareness.
The program is an education tool for coaches, teachers, parents and other adults about the needs of young people with asthma who participate in athletics. Coaches sign up online and take an asthma “pretest.” After the pretest, coaches, teachers, parents, etc. watch a 30-minute educational video and are tested again to prove their proficiency in asthma awareness and management.
For more information– visit ‘winningwithasthma.org’
Conclusion
No child should have to sit on the sideline because of asthma. But more importantly, no child should ever lose their life because we – as adults – couldn’t help them. Winning with Asthma will help more Maryland children enjoy their childhood, of which sports are an incredibly important part. Thank you very much.