This report provides an overview of current efforts to improve the prevention, tracking, diagnosis and treatment of childhood asthma and accompanying opportunities for policy change. Asthma is a growing problem for children and families in California and in the nation as a whole. Asthma prevalence in the United States increased by 75 percent between 1980 and 1994, with rates for children under four increasing 160 percent. In 1998, 1.8 million Californians had asthma, including 500,000 children. The American Lung Association (ALA) reports that asthma is the reason for one in six pediatric visits in the United States.1 It is the third-ranking cause of hospitalizations for children under 15 in the United States. While children of all socioeconomic statuses contract asthma, it disproportionately affects low-income children, particularly African-American and Latino children. Moreover, for uninsured and underinsured children, lack of access to care can exacerbate a vulnerable health status.
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