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Read the press release here.

Take These 2 Steps to Protect Your Asthmatic Child, City Says

By Carolina Pichardo | November 25, 2016 12:37pm
 The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene launched Thursday afternoon the
The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene launched Thursday afternoon the "Your Child's Asthma Is Always There, Even When They Seem Perfectly Fine" campaign with 75 bus shelter advertisement throughout East Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, and several parts of Brooklyn and the Bronx.
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Department of Health & Mental Hygiene

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The city has launched a campaign to remind parents to be attentive to their children's asthma condition — and what they can do to prevent a future asthma attack. 

The Department of Health campaign, “Your Child’s Asthma Is Always There, Even When They Seem Perfectly Fine,” is plastering the message across 75 bus shelter locations throughout East Harlem, Northern Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx.

There were 770 asthma-related emergency room visits in Washington Heights and Inwood among school-aged children between 5 to 14 years old in 2014, according to the DOH — compared to the 1,000 visits in Central Harlem and approximately 800 in East Harlem that same year, according to the city.

Officials say that parents can take a more active role to try to prevent their next visit to the hospital.

“I would like folks to take the time to talk your healthcare provider on how to daily manage your child’s asthma. Some children have more severe asthma, and need daily control of medicine," said Dr. George Askew, deputy commissioner of the Division of Family and Child Health for the DOH.

Askew said there are two specific steps that parents should take to make sure they've done all they can to help their children with their asthma.

First, they should make sure that their medication form, available on the Department of Education website, is filled out and signed by their child's primary care doctor to ensure nurses at their children's school can administer the life-saving medication if an attack happens during school hours.

Officials from the DOH also want parents to ask their child's doctor questions about their child’s asthma, including how serious the asthma condition is and what to do if the child’s asthma medicine runs out.

“Do those two things and we’ll be very happy,” Askew said. 

The campaign, Askew said, isn’t a one-shot deal, but a longer-term initiative that can continue to the DOH will “continue to review and find new avenues to continue our outreach.”