The San Francisco Asthma Task Force presented the findings of its Report to the Community on Asthma at a World Asthma Day event on May 6th at the Port of San Francisco. The Report revealed significant disparities in asthma hospitalizations and emergency room visits among San Francisco’s neighborhoods, and highlighted the risks posed by current housing and school conditions. According to a 2005 California Health Interview Survey cited in the report, 26.2 percent of San Francisco’s school-aged children (ages 5-17) had been diagnosed with asthma at some point in their lives, far outpacing the state rate of 18.0 percent. The Task Force called for several policy changes to address these threats and reduce environmental risk factors for asthma.
The Task Force was able to use mapping technology to illustrate:
· the number of per capita code violations for housing safety and habitability in the past year;
· the number of children 0-13 years and capacity of licensed childcare (centers and family homes)
· the difference between the number of children eligible for childcare and the number of childcare subsidies available
· the distribution of public health facilities relative to population density, and the proportion of households living in overcrowded conditions.
These can all be contributing factors for the high asthma prevalence, hospitalization rates and emergency room visits in the city.
In light of its findings, the Task Force called on San Francisco policymakers for a renewed commitment to improve the condition of city housing and schools. Most notably, the group recommended that:
- the San Francisco Unified School District fully implement and staff the Tools for Schools Indoor Air Quality program at all school sites as well as adopt a policy that would mandate that green and asthma-safe custodial products are used on campus to eliminate asthma risks.
- the Board of Supervisors amend specific San Francisco Health, Housing and Building codes to raise healthy housing standards for all residential buildings. These higher standards - which include improved ventilation for kitchens and bathrooms, and better maintenance of heating systems and their filters – would particularly help protect low-income residents from asthma risks in their homes.
At the press conference the San Francisco Asthma Task Force honored the following organizations for their partnership in reducing the impact of asthma in San Francisco:
California Pacific Medical Center Community Benefits Program. CPMC provided crucial grant funding to allow the Asthma Task Force access to asthma patients and medical providers to determine their needs towards fostering more coordinated systems of care for people with asthma.
Health Education and Community Health Studies Department of City College of San Francisco – recognized for formally integrating the All About Asthma curriculum developed by Breathe California into their accredited Health 11C and First/Aid CPR courses for child care providers.
Kaiser Permanente - recognized for it’s continual support and leadership in the area of asthma and serving as founding members of the Asthma Task Force.
San Francisco Unified School District Custodial Services Department - recognized for embarking on a joint venture with the Task Force and other city agencies to pilot Environmentally Preferable cleaning products to eventually replace the district’s supply of cleaning products to ensure that children and staff are not exposed to harmful toxic chemicals.
The San Francisco Unified School District’s School Health Programs Department has been instrumental as an active participant on the Task Force and has carried forward key priorities of the Task Force established by School Board policies that were advocated for by the Task Force to improve asthma management and improve the indoor air quality of the classrooms and buildings for the sake of all students and staff.
San Francisco Department of Public Health, Tom Waddell Health Center - recognized for being a model program for asthma services in the city.
To learn more about asthma, the Task Force or its Community Asthma Report, please contact Anjali Nath at BREATHE CALIFORNIA at (650) 994-5868 or visit http://www.ggbreathe.org and http://www.sfgov.org/asthma.
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