News Releases from Region 06

EPA Recognizes City of Dallas and Partners for Collaborating to Fight Asthma Triggers

DALLAS - (Nov. 24, 2015) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognized the City of Dallas and the Health and Wellness Alliance for Children for their collaboration to improve children's health in the Dallas area. The groups are bringing together a variety of stakeholders to reduce environmental triggers for the 60,000 children in Dallas with asthma.

"Protecting children's health takes the hard work and collaboration of many groups, from healthcare workers to city inspectors," said EPA Regional Administrator Ron Curry. "Bringing these different groups together can improve health outcomes for kids and increase their quality of life."

Dallas City Manager A.C. Gonzalez thanked the EPA for the award while acknowledging the hard work of City of Dallas staff and the Alliance for Children. "This is an example of a successful collaboration that will ultimately benefit the thousands of Dallas children living with asthma," he said.

"According to the Children's Health 2015 Beyond ABC report, Dallas is among the most ozone-polluted counties in the U.S., and we know pollution is a key trigger of asthma," said Cheryl McCarver, vice president of The Health and Wellness Alliance for Children. "We are proud to once again partner with the Environmental Protection Agency, Dallas City government and many others through the Health and Wellness Alliance for Children to address environmental issues on behalf of our children."

With help from the National Center for Healthy Housing, the city hosted a workshop for clinical staff from Children's Health hospital, city code inspectors, attorneys, and the 311 program. The groups outlined their respective responsibilities and discussed how they could work together to provide safer, healthier environments for children. The city then worked with the Dallas-area group the Health and Wellness Alliance for Children to train code compliance leaders on the important connection between children's health and their environment.

Asthma is a serious, sometimes life-threatening chronic respiratory disease that affects the quality of life for almost 25 million Americans, including an estimated 7 million children. Although there is no cure for asthma yet, asthma can be controlled through medical treatment and management of environmental triggers, including secondhand smoke, dust mites, molds, wood smoke, cockroaches and pests.

The Health and Wellness Alliance for Children brings community partners together to address social and economic factors that affect children's health, including availability and choices of safe housing, social networks and support systems, and physical environments of homes, schools, and neighborhoods.

To learn more about asthma and how to control environmental triggers, visit http://www2.epa.gov/asthma.

To learn more about the Health and Wellness Alliance for Children, visit http://www.healthandwellnessalliance.com/.

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