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EPA Administrator Christie Whitman to Tour Asthma Unit at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Release Date: 04/18/2002
Contact Information:

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION III- OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS AND GOVERNMENT RELATIONS 1650 Arch Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103-2029 Phone - 215/814-5100 Fax - 215/814-5102 EPA Media Advisory

EPA Administrator Christie Whitman on Friday will be at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to discuss the President’s Clear Skies Initiative and get an update on the hospital’s community asthma prevention program, which has provided asthma education to 1,600 children and their parents since the program’s inception.

Who: EPA Administrator Christie Whitman
Regional Administrator Donald S. Welsh

Jeffrey Rivest, chief operating officer, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

Tyra Bryant-Stephens, M.D., director of community asthma prevention program

When: 10:00 a.m. Friday, April 19, 2002

Where: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
34th St. and Civic Center Boulevard
Philadelphia, Pa.

What: Discuss President’s Clear Skies plan and success of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
community asthma prevention program – a recipient of $130,000 combined grant from EPA
headquarters and Region III’s Air Protection Division in December, 2000.


Children’s Hospital’s five-week seminar series and a follow-up in-home visit identifies asthma triggers such as house dust, animal dander, and cockroaches, and how to eliminate them. Other topics include how to use asthma medications, how to treat symptoms, and how to deal with school and family issues when a chronic illness is involved. The program has already provided asthma education to 1,600 children and their parents since the program’s inception. Asthma, the most common chronic medical condition in children and adolescents, is the number one reason for admission to Children’s Hospital’s Emergency Department.

The President’s Clear Skies initiative will set mandatory cuts in the emissions of three major pollutants from power plants and will, over the next decade, remove a total of 35 million more tons of nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury from the air than will be eliminated by the current Clean Air Act. At the same time, Americans will experience tens of thousands fewer cases of asthma and other chronic respiratory problems.


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