Childhood Asthma Initiative Decreases Hospitalization Rates for New York City Children By More Than One Third Since 1997

Hospitalization rates for children with asthma in New York City last year reached the lowest level since 1988, the New York Times reports. According to city figures to be released today, 6.4 of every 1,000 New York City children over age 15 were hospitalized for asthma attacks last year, a more than 33% drop since 1997, when the rate was nearly 10 per 1,000 children. Children under five years of age living in the poorest 20% of communities in the city were four times as likely to be hospitalized for asthma compared to those living in the wealthiest 20%, down from a ratio of six to one in 1995. City officials credited the drop to the Childhood Asthma Initiative, a program begun in 1997 "amid heightened public concern about" an asthma epidemic. At that time, public health experts and community groups criticized the city for failing to budget money specifically for asthma. Asthma cases "rose sharply" throughout the nation in the mid-1980s and 1990s, and New York "had some of the highest hospitalization rates in the country." In response, the city started the initiative, which included a "citywide advertising campaign" to educate the public about the disease. The city also currently pays nurses to teach asthma education courses to third graders and provides grants to local groups that combat asthma in high-risk communities. In a separate study, the Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs the city's 11 public hospitals, analyzed asthma hospitalization figures at public hospitals alone and found that since 1997, the number of asthma-related hospital visits for children under 18 declined 44%. More than 5,300 children were hospitalized in New York City public hospitals in 1997, while the number dropped to fewer than 3,000 last year. However, asthma experts are "not ready to declare victory," pointing out that the city's public hospitals still admitted nearly 50,000 people for asthma last year. They added that city officials still need to "focus attention" on low-income communities, where access to basic health care needs to improve. Dr. Neal Cohen, the city's health commissioner, said that better asthma treatment in low-income communities would have a financial benefit because Medicaid payments for emergency asthma care total more than $100 million annually. He said, "I don't think that we're in danger of becoming complacent. Asthma is still the leading cause of hospitalization for kids by far" (Flanders, New York Times, 8/6).