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Asthma, a lung disease, affects over 25 million people living in the United States, including 1 in 11 children. It causes 3 in 5 people living with asthma to limit their physical activity or miss days at school and work. Asthma is also expensive, costing the nation $56 billion each year.

On World Asthma Day (the first Tuesday of May) and throughout May, people with asthma and organizations dedicated to asthma control and education join together to increase awareness about asthma and improve the lives of all people with asthma.

This toolkit features information for people with asthma, schools, public health practitioners, and others grouped in one place for Asthma Awareness Month use. Use the Asthma Awareness Toolkit to raise awareness today!

Introducing the Wisconsin Asthma Plan, 2015-2020, a blueprint for addressing asthma in Wisconsin for the next five years. This plan represents the best efforts of Wisconsin Asthma Coalition's (WAC) leadership and members to develop a strategic plan to reduce the burden of asthma as a public health problem in Wisconsin.

The WAC has made great strides in improving asthma management since the release of the Wisconsin Asthma Plan 2003, but the burden of disease and its disproportionate impact remains a priority. The intent of the Wisconsin Asthma Plan, 2015-2020 is to focus activities on disparately impacted populations in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Asthma Plan 2015-2020 is divided into four priority areas that are in direct alignment with the four components of care outlined in the NIH asthma guidelines. The four priority areas include:

• Routine health care
• Pharmaceutical care
• Education
• Environment

When people get sick or develop a disability, they often ask their health care providers, “How did this happen?” The answer could be clear and obvious but many times it is more complicated.  A Story of Health multimedia eBook explores this question and delves into how our environments interact with our genes to influence health across the lifespan. We tell A Story of Health through the lives of fictional characters and their families - Brett, a young boy with asthma; Amelia, a teenager with developmental disabilities; and toddler Stephen, recently diagnosed with leukemia. Each fictional case features the latest scientific research about disease origin and helpful facts about disease prevention. “Although our characters are fictional, the risk factors they face are real,” says Mark Miller MD, MPH, co-author and director of the University of California, San Francisco, Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit.  “Our eBook brings stories of health to life through an interactive format that we believe will engage a wide range of audiences.”