On Second Day of Voices of California Tour, Angelides Vows to Take on Asthma

FRESNO, CA - On the second day of his "Voices of California tour," California State Treasurer and Democratic nominee for Governor Phil Angelides discussed his plan to reduce Central Valley emergency room visits and hospitalizations for asthma by half during the next decade at stops in Fresno, Merced, and Stockton.  

"As Governor, I will launch an attack on asthma in California, with the goal of reducing emergency room visits and hospitalizations for asthma by half over the next decade," said Angelides. "I'll be a Governor who stands with hard'working families and the sick - unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger, who time and again stands with the HMOs and the big drug companies."

In his remarks, Angelides vowed to take decisive action to:

• Keep children from smoking. Angelides is supporting Proposition 86, the anti'tobacco initiative on the November ballot that targets teen smoking. Governor Schwarzenegger refuses to support the initiative.
  
  
• Fight for the toughest air quality standards. As Governor, Angelides will support measures like the San Joaquin Valley Air Quality District's fees on developers. These fees reduce sprawl that promotes the smog that triggers asthma.
  
  
• Increase the state's asthma research, prevention, and management efforts. This will include programs in our schools to help children manage their disease and remove triggers for attacks.
  
  
• Expand health insurance coverage to all children as Governor so that asthmatic children get the care and medicine they need. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation to cover all children.
  
  
• Ensure that people with asthma get the treatment and disease management they need to stay healthy and productive.  Angelides will regulate HMOs to make sure that the health care premiums of hard'working Californians go for health care like asthma management, not excessive CEO pay and profits.
  
  
• Lower the cost of prescription drugs.  Angelides will sign legislation to let uninsured Californians buy prescription drugs at discounts negotiated for them by the state and set up websites for consumers to shop for the best prices for drugs, including safe imports from Canada and other countries.

Today, there are five million Californians with asthma - and 1.5 million are children.  One in six children nationally who are stricken with asthma live in California. 

Asthma is the leading cause of hospitalizations among children - over 160,000 hospitalizations in California last year.  Nationally, 5,000 people a year die from extreme asthmatic reactions.  It is a leading cause of school absenteeism for children as well as missed work days and lost productivity for adults and businesses. And nowhere is the concentration of children suffering from asthma higher than in the Central Valley.

In Kern County, the childhood asthma rate is more than three times the national average and almost 20 percent more than the rest of California.  In the Fresno area, one in six children has asthma, triple the national average.  In San Joaquin County, nearly a quarter of all children have asthma.  San Joaquin County has a childhood asthma rate that is five times the national average and 50 percent higher than the rest of the state.  In Stanislaus County, the childhood asthma rate is double the national average and the number of children who will have an asthma attack is nearly 50 percent higher than the rest of the state.