Esther Bejarano\u2019s son was 11 months old when asthma landed him inhh the hospital. She didn\u2019t know what had triggered his symptoms \u2014 neither she nor her husband had asthma \u2014 but she suspected it was the pesticides sprayed on the agricultural fields near her family\u2019s home.<\/p>\n
Pesticides are a known contributor to asthma<\/a> and are commonly used where Bejarano lives in California\u2019s Imperial Valley, a landlocked region that straddles two counties on the U.S.-Mexico border and is one of the main producers of the nation\u2019s winter crops. It also has some of the worst air pollution in the nation and one of the highest rates of childhood asthma emergency room visits in the state, according to data collected by the California Department of Public Health.<\/a><\/p>\n Bejarano has since learned to manage her now-19-year-old son\u2019s asthma and works at Comite Civico del Valle<\/a>, a local rights organization focused on environmental justice in the Imperial Valley. The organization trains health care workers to educate patients on proper asthma management, enabling them to avoid hospitalization and eliminate triggers at home. The course is so popular that there\u2019s a waiting list, Bejarano said.<\/p>\n But the group\u2019s Asthma Management Academy<\/a> program and similar initiatives nationwide face extinction with the Trump administration\u2019s mass layoffs, grant cancellations, and proposed budget cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency. Asthma experts fear the cumulative impact of the reductions could result in more ER visits and deaths,<\/a> particularly for children and people in low-income communities \u2014 populations disproportionately vulnerable<\/a> to the disease.<\/p>\n \u201cAsthma is a preventive condition,\u201d Bejarano said. \u201cNo one should die of asthma.\u201d<\/p>\n Asthma can block airways, making it hard to breathe, and in severe cases can cause death if not treated quickly. Nearly 28 million people in the U.S. have asthma, and about 10 people still die every day from the disease, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America<\/a>.<\/p>\n In May, the White House released a budget proposal<\/a> that would permanently shutter <\/a>the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\u2019s National Asthma Control Program, which was already gutted by federal health department layoffs<\/a> in April. It\u2019s unclear whether Congress will approve the closure.<\/p>\n Last year, the program<\/a> allotted $33.5 million to state-administered initiatives in 27 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., to help communities with asthma education. The funding is distributed in four-year grant cycles, during which the programs receive up to $725,000 each annually.<\/p>\n Comite Civico del Valle\u2019s academy in Southern California, a clinician workshop in Houston, and asthma medical management training in Allentown, Pennsylvania \u2014 ranked the most challenging<\/a> U.S. city to live in with asthma \u2014 are among the programs largely surviving on these grants. The first year of the current grant cycle ends Aug. 31, and it\u2019s unknown whether funding will continue beyond then.<\/p>\n Data suggests that the CDC\u2019s National Asthma Control Program has had a significant impact. The agency\u2019s own research<\/a> has shown that the program saves $71 in health care costs for every $1 invested. And the asthma death rate decreased 44% between the 1999 launch of the program and 2021, according to the American Lung Association<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cLosing support from the CDC will have devastating impacts on asthma programs in states and communities across the country, programs that we know are improving the lives of millions of people with asthma,\u201d said Anne Kelsey Lamb, director of the Public Health Institute\u2019s Regional Asthma Management and Prevention program. \u201cAnd the thing is that we know a lot about what works to help people keep their asthma well controlled, and that\u2019s why it\u2019s so devastating.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump administration cited cost savings and efficiency in its April announcement of the cuts to HHS. Requests for comment from the White House and CDC about cuts to federal asthma and related programs were not answered.<\/p>\n The Information Wars<\/strong><\/p>\n Fresno, in the heart of California\u2019s Central Valley, is one of the country\u2019s top 20 \u201casthma capitals,\u201d with high rates of asthma and related emergencies and deaths. It\u2019s home to programs that receive funding through the National Asthma Control Program. Health care professionals there also rely on another aspect of the program that is under threat if it\u2019s shuttered: countrywide data.<\/p>\n The federal asthma program collects information<\/a> on asthma rates and offers a tool to study prevalence and rates of death from the disease, see what populations are most affected, and assess state and local trends. Asthma educators and health care providers worry that the loss of these numbers could be the biggest impact of the cuts, because it would mean a dearth of information crucial to forming educated recommendations and treatment plans.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do we justify the services we provide if the data isn\u2019t there?\u201d said Graciela Anaya, director of community health at the Central California Asthma Collaborative in Fresno.<\/p>\n Mitchell Grayson, chair of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation\u2019s Medical Scientific Council, is similarly concerned.<\/p>\n \u201cMy fear is we\u2019re going to live in a world that is frozen in Jan. 19, 2025, as far as data, because that was the last time you know that this information was safely collected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Grayson, an allergist who practices in Columbus, Ohio, said he also worries government websites will delete important recommendations that asthma sufferers avoid heavy air pollution, get annual flu shots, and get covid-19 vaccines.<\/p>\n Disproportionate Risk<\/strong><\/p>\n Asthma disproportionately affects communities of color because of \u201chistoric structural issues,\u201d said Lynda Mitchell, CEO of the Asthma and Allergy Network, citing a higher likelihood of living in public housing or near highways and other pollution sources.<\/p>\n She and other experts in the field said cuts to diversity initiatives across federal agencies, combined with the rollback of environmental protections, will have an outsize impact on these at-risk populations.<\/p>\n In December, the Biden administration awarded nearly $1.6 billion<\/a> through the EPA\u2019s Community Change Grants program to help disadvantaged communities address pollution and climate threats. The Trump administration moved to cut this funding in March. The grant freezes, which have been temporarily blocked<\/a> by the courts, are part of a broader effort<\/a> by the Trump EPA to eliminate aid to environmental justice programs across the agency.<\/p>\n In 2023 and 2024, the National Institutes of Health\u2019s Climate Change and Health Initiative<\/a> received $40 million for research, including on the link between asthma and climate change. The Trump administration has moved to cut<\/a> that money. And a March memo<\/a> essentially halted all NIH grants focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI \u2014 funds many of the asthma programs serving low-income communities rely on to operate.<\/p>\n On top of those cuts, environmental advocates like Isabel Gonz\u00e1lez Whitaker of Memphis, Tennessee, worry that the proposed reversals<\/a> of environmental regulations will further harm the health of communities like hers that are already reeling from the effects of climate change. Shelby County, home to Memphis, recently received an F<\/a> on the American Lung Association\u2019s annual report card<\/a> for having so many high ozone days. Gonz\u00e1lez Whitaker is director of EcoMadres, a program within the national organization Moms for Clean Air that advocates for better environmental conditions for Latino communities.<\/p>\n \u201cUrgent asthma needs in communities are getting defunded at a time when I just see things getting worse in terms of deregulation,\u201d said Gonz\u00e1lez Whitaker, who took her 12-year-old son to the hospital because of breathing issues for the first time this year. \u201cWe\u2019re being assaulted by this data and science, which is clearly stating that we need to be doing better around preserving the regulations.\u201d<\/p>\n Back in California\u2019s Imperial Valley \u2014 where the majority-Hispanic, working-class population surrounds California\u2019s largest lake, the Salton Sea \u2014 is an area called Bombay Beach. Bejarano calls it the \u201cforgotten community.\u201d Homes there lack clean running water, because of naturally occurring arsenic<\/a> in the groundwater, and residents frequently experience a smell like rotten eggs blowing off the drying lakebed, exposing decades of pesticide-tinged dirt<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 2022, a 12-year-old girl died<\/a> in Bombay Beach after an asthma attack. Bejarano said she later learned that the girl\u2019s school had recommended that she take part in Comite Civico del Valle\u2019s at-home asthma education program. She said the girl was on the waiting list when she died.<\/p>\n \u201cIt hit home. Her death showed the personal need we have here in Imperial County,\u201d Bejarano said. \u201cDeaths are preventable. Asthma is reversible. If you have asthma, you should be able to live a healthy life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\nUSE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n