New York State Department of Health Recognizes Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month

Department Highlights Educational Tools for Managing Asthma During Peak Allergy Season

ALBANY, N.Y. (May 15, 2025) – The New York State Department of Health recognizes National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month by educating New Yorkers about the importance of managing asthma, which can be triggered by allergens, especially during the height of allergy season when flare-ups are most prevalent.

"Asthma is a common chronic condition that affects nearly 2 million New Yorkers and can be serious or even life-threatening," State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. "Although there's currently no cure, asthma can be fully managed with guidelines-based care. Creating an asthma action plan with a health care provider, monitoring symptoms, and reducing environmental asthma triggers can make a big difference in helping people live full, active lives."

Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs that causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing. It is estimated that 1 in 11 children in New York and an additional 1.5 million adults have asthma. The rate of asthma is rising more rapidly in preschool-aged children and those living in urban inner cities than in any other group. Asthma that is not well-controlled can limit a person's quality of life.

Inequities in asthma-related health outcomes are found across demographic groups with asthma emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalizations, and deaths disproportionately impacting Black and Hispanic people, younger age groups, and populations with lower socioeconomic status. Structural racism and poverty, limited access to quality health care, substandard housing, and environmental pollution contribute to asthma rate disparities.

Allergens – such as dust mites, cockroaches, pollen, molds, animal dander, and rodents – can trigger asthma as can air pollution, tobacco smoke, exercise, respiratory infections and weather changes.

The Department is working to reduce the burden of asthma in collaboration with the American Lung Association, local health departments, schools and school districts, community-based organizations, health care organizations, and provider partners statewide.

The New York State Children's Asthma Initiative, a joint effort of the Department and the American Lung Association, engages strategic partners to advance evidence-based strategies shown to reduce the burden of childhood asthma, a common chronic lung disease impacting children and their families. With an aim to improve asthma-related health outcomes and quality of life, the Department and Lung Association work in New York's highest asthma burden regions to address health equity by expanding the delivery of guidelines-based asthma care, asthma self-management education, and home-based asthma services in a way that is coordinated across health care, school, home, and community settings.

The Initiative also provides education, training, and resources to members of the cross-disciplinary asthma care team and to New Yorkers living with asthma. Additional funding allocated this year will support the New York State Children's Asthma Initiative expansion of workforce development resources to provide education, training and tools to members of the cross-disciplinary asthma care team. Funding will also support widened efforts to engage New York's children living with asthma and their families in accessing home-based asthma services to reduce asthma triggers and improve asthma control.

The NYS Children's Asthma Initiative is focused on serving NY's highest asthma burden regions, as defined by high asthma emergency department (ED) and hospitalization rates among individuals aged 0 to 24 and/or regions having a high percentage of NYS total asthma-related ED visits/hospitalizations. The initiative prioritizes counties such as the Bronx, New York, Kings, and Queens, which collectively account for over 60% of New York's total asthma-related ED visits and hospitalizations.

The NYS Asthma Control Program in collaboration with the State Education Department created A Guide for Asthma Management in Schools to provide information and resources to assist school personnel in helping students with asthma remain healthy, optimize learning, and participate fully in school. The guide is designed for school and district employees, parents or guardians, members of local school boards, and leaders of organizations interested in childhood asthma management.

The New York State Healthy Neighborhoods Program (HNP) seeks to reduce the burden of housing-related illness and injury through a holistic, healthy home approach. The program provides in-home assessments and interventions for asthma, tobacco cessation, indoor air quality, lead, fire safety, and other environmental health hazards in selected communities throughout New York. The program targets housing in high-risk areas identified using housing, health, and socioeconomic indicators from census and surveillance data.

The New York State School Environmental Health Program (SEHP) is a voluntary initiative focused on practical measures that schools can adopt to create healthier learning and working environments for all students and staff across New York State. The program offers key recommendations for improving indoor air in schools. The program recently received a $5 million grant from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to expand education and training related to indoor air quality for K-12 school staff. Additionally, the program has increased its capacity to provide technical assistance to schools to help improve indoor air quality and is currently pilot testing an indoor air monitoring tool for educational institutions. Over the past two years, the program has engaged more than 800 school personnel statewide on a variety of environmental health topics including indoor air quality through dozens of regional seminars and 2 statewide conferences. At least 10 regional seminars are planned for Spring 2025 and a conference focusing on Indoor Air Quality is planned for November 6, 2025. As part of their on-going webinar series and in celebration of Asthma Awareness Month, the SEHP hosted a webinar on May 7, 2025 featuring Melesha Brissette from the American Lung Association who will speak about Asthma Triggers in Schools. The SEHP anticipates further expansion of these types of offerings over the next five years.

The Department reminds New Yorkers that asthma can be managed, and the disease does not have to restrict living a healthy and active life.

Information about asthma burden in New York can be found here.

New York's Action Against Asthma can be found here.

Educational resources for managing asthma can be found here.

A brochure about environmental asthma triggers can be found here.