Asthma and Allergies Impact America

Nation's leading patient education organization shares solutions with Congress for saving lives and reducing healthcare costs

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Asthma and allergies are serious, life-threatening conditions that claim at least 10 lives a day and rack up costs in healthcare – including emergency department visits – and lost productivity. It doesn't have to be this way. The solution: Asthma and allergy care that's patient-centered and grounded in NIH Asthma Guidelines and Food Allergy Guidelines. Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) will share solutions with Congress for ensuring all patients with these conditions receive the care they need and slash unnecessary healthcare costs associated with asthma and allergies.

AANMA's 14th annual Asthma Awareness Day Capitol Hill (AADCH) on Wednesday, May 4, includes a Congressional Breakfast Briefing (9-10 am, Rayburn House Office Building, Gold Room (#2168)  featuring allergist Dana Wallace, MD, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI); Karen Meyerson, manager of an award-winning community outreach program; Brooke Curran, marathon runner with asthma; and LaDonna Stanley, mother of a 13-year-old son with asthma. Members of Congress including AADCH co-chairs Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY) and Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) will also speak about issues in asthma and allergy care.

The briefing is followed by the free Allergy & Asthma Expo (11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Rayburn Foyer), where Congressional staff and members of the public will discover more about asthma, allergies, anaphylaxis and exercise-induced bronchospasm (EIB), and receive free screenings and allergist consultations at the kickoff of ACAAI's Nationwide Asthma Screening Program. Attendees can hear tips from Brooke and take part in Wii Fit demos at the "Fit to Breathe" exercise station.

"The focus of AADCH: helping families with asthma and allergies gain access to the quality healthcare they so desperately need," says Nancy Sander, President and Founder of AANMA. "AANMA goes to Capitol Hill to give voice to these families, advocating for patient-centered care that will eliminate deaths and suffering caused by these conditions. Support from  our friends in Congress shows they're as dedicated as we are to making changes that save lives."

More information: Visit www.aanma.org/advocacy/aadch, or contact Katie Nicolai at [email protected] or 610.228.2128.

Thank you to AADCH '11 sponsors: Aerocrine; the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI); Cephalon; Dey Pharma, LP; ExxonMobil; GlaxoSmithKline; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.; Phadia; Pharmaxis; Teva Respiratory, LLC.

About AANMA

Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics (AANMA) is the leading national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending death and suffering due to asthma, allergies and related conditions. AANMA specializes in sharing family-friendly, medically accurate information through its award-winning publications Allergy & Asthma Today magazine and The MA Report newsletter, www.aanma.org and numerous community outreach programs.  

SOURCE Allergy & Asthma Network Mothers of Asthmatics

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