(Chest. 1999;116:131S.)
© 1999
American College of Chest Physicians
Greetings From Chicago
Richard M. Daley, Mayor, City of Chicago and
Sheila Lyne, RSM, Commissioner, Department of Public Health, City of Chicago
 |
Introduction
|
|---|
 TOP
 Introduction
|
|---|
Asthma has become an important public concern for
urban areas across the world. Our lack of understanding of this
condition limits its early prevention, but nationally available
practice care guidelines give us the tools for minimizing the morbidity
and mortality associated with this disease. During the early 1990s, we
in Chicago became aware of this new and emerging public health concern.
The public health sector, including the municipal Board of Health, has
been central to efforts in identifying and controlling such problems.
However, they cannot by themselves reduce the rates of asthma morbidity
and mortality. It was therefore a great moment when the Otho S.A.
Sprague Memorial Institute decided to intensify our community's
response to asthma morbidity with the launch of its asthma initiative.
The Sprague Institute should be recognized for its distinguished role
in local philanthropy directed toward helping our citizens live
healthier lives.
There are many individuals who have been instrumental to the early
successes of raising Chicago's awareness of asthma. Several of these
individuals deserve special thanks. First and foremost, Whitney
Addington, MD, FCCP, President of the Chicago Board of Health, has
helped bring this problem to light and has worked tirelessly to guide
numerous community leaders and health-care organizations in efforts to
stop the rising trends of urban asthma. We also recognize John Kirkwood
and the late Allan Shaw, of the American Lung Association of
Metropolitan Chicago, and Sydney Parker, PhD, of the American College
of Chest Physicians. These two individuals were instrumental in
organizing the early efforts of the Chicago Asthma Consortium—keeping
it on track and seeing it safely ushered to its current position as a
self-sustaining independent voluntary organization that is changing the
way our community perceives and addresses asthma. An important note of
appreciation goes to James Alexander. His close supervision of the many
projects sponsored by the Sprague Institute's asthma initiative has
led to a broad array of innovative models that address asthma-related
issues: surveillance, delivery of health services, school health policy
reforms, and community activism. Finally, we give a note of thanks to
the many members of the community who have worked with the Chicago
Asthma Consortium to address these issues. These include the many
talented individuals whose work is represented in this journal
supplement, as well as the many persons whose work is equally important
but does not easily lend itself to this type of scholarly product.
We hope that the citizens of Chicago are proud of the work of these
individuals and organizations that are dedicated to reducing asthma
morbidity and mortality in our great city. Through these efforts, we
hope that Chicago will become America's first "asthma safe" urban
environment.
