[Filed with Secretary of State June 26, 2015.]
ACR 64, Santiago. Asthma Awareness Month.
This measure would designate the month of May 2015 as Asthma Awareness Month in order to increase awareness and understanding about asthma and educate those with the disease on the treatments available and the methods of preventing attacks.
WHEREAS, Approximately five million Californians have been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their lives, and almost three million currently have asthma; and
WHEREAS, Asthma is responsible for approximately 400 deaths, 35,000 hospital discharges, and 180,000 emergency department visits annually in California; and
WHEREAS, Lifetime and current asthma prevalence is highest among children 5 to 17 years of age and about 30 percent higher than among adults; and
WHEREAS, Asthma prevalence is higher among African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Puerto Ricans, European Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, and Filipinos; and
WHEREAS, Although people of all incomes have similar asthma prevalence, people with lower incomes have more poorly controlled asthma and higher rates of emergency department visits and hospitalizations; and
WHEREAS, Asthma results in an estimated 11.8 million days of work or usual activities missed per year among adults and 1.2 million days of school or day care missed per year among children; and
WHEREAS, An estimated 19.4 percent of adults and 4.7 percent of children with current asthma were uninsured at some point in the past year; and
WHEREAS, Total charges for asthma hospitalizations in 2010 were over $1 billion, and intervention to prevent repeat hospitalizations could have saved $156 million in these medical costs; and
WHEREAS, It is important that every person with asthma be diagnosed, receive appropriate treatment, learn how to manage his or her asthma, and reduce exposure to environmental factors that make his or her asthma worse; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates the month of May 2015 as Asthma Awareness Month in order to increase awareness and understanding about asthma and educate those with the disease on the treatments available and the methods of preventing attacks; and be it further
Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.
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