Federal programs coordinate the services to assist underserved kids with asthma. 

HHS Secretary Kathleen Seblius (left) and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson present young Boys & Girls Club members with commemorative gifts highlighting the objectives of the President’s Task Force on Safety Risks to Children at The ARC Boys & Girls Club in Washington, D.C.

The Action Plan

Approximately 7 million children aged 0 to 17 in the United States have asthma. Children from minority groups and children from low-income households are at greater risk for having the disease and, once they have it, they are at greater risk of suffering more because of it.

The Action Plan – a result of the collaborative interagency Asthma Disparities Working Group, co-chaired by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) -- is aimed at increasing coordination of federal programs in order to get the right asthma care with the right support to the right children.

On May 31, senior leaders from HHS, EPA, and HUD met at The Arc, a Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington (D.C.) facility, to discuss the four strategies identified in the Action Plan to address preventable factors which lead to asthma disparities and promote synergies across numerous federal programs that affect asthma management.

Leaders at the meeting included:

• The Honorable Shaun Donovan – Secretary, U.S. Housing and Urban Development
• The Honorable Lisa P. Jackson – Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius – Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
• The Honorable Nancy Sutley – Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality

National leaders of asthma programs discussed the role they can play to share in implementing the Action Plan.