State & Community Asthma Advocacy

The American Lung Association works in states and communities across the nation to improve the health and the lives of people with asthma. The Lung Association recommends some specific policies that all state and local communities need to act on to help fight asthma. Look for more information about these recommendations in the National Asthma Public Policy Agenda.

The following provides more information about changes that the Lung Association is working for:

State Initiatives

• Every state should have an adopted and adequately funded comprehensive state plan to reduce asthma morbidity and mortality
• Every state should have an adequately funded statewide asthma program
• Every county in every state should attain the national air quality standards as expeditiously as possible
• Monitoring of air pollutants should cover all at-risk populations and sources of concern in every state
• Federal, state and local measures to reduce emissions of outdoor air pollutants should be expanded, especially in communities with the highest exposure
• All healthcare systems, including public and private providers, purchasers and payers, should deliver services and medications consistent with National Asthma Education and Prevention Program and other guidelines
• Surveillance mechanisms should be established and implemented to document levels of work-related asthma
• All workplaces should be 100-percent tobacco-free

Local Initiatives

• Every county in every state should attain the national air quality standards as expeditiously as possible
• Federal, state and local measures to reduce emissions of outdoor air pollutants should be expanded, especially in communities with the highest exposure
• Every school should be asthma-friendly
• Schools should adopt a Stock Bronchodilator Policy to ensure access and availability to back-up asthma medication using standing orders for quick-relief medication.
• Multi-unit housing should be smokefree
• All workplaces should be 100-percent tobacco-free