[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 52 (Wednesday, May 1, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H1772]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          ASTHMA AWARENESS DAY

  (Mr. FOLEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, today is Asthma Awareness Day, and as a 
former suffering asthmatic, I want to commend this Congress for the 
work and research efforts that have been undertaken by the National 
Institutes of Health.
  I want to give my colleagues a few of the statistics that are 
startling: 4.8 million children have asthma; 10.6 million people have 
experienced an asthma attack or episode in the past 12 months; 3.9 
million asthma-related outpatient visits to private physicians; and 
another 2 million asthma-related visits to emergency departments. Over 
12,288 people died of asthma-related symptoms. The cost, of course, is 
staggering, $12.7 billion. Missed school days, 10.1 million annually, 
and missed work days, over 3 million.
  Much work needs to be done, but the first most important work is to 
continue to promote asthma awareness and research, hopefully to bring a 
breath of life to young children and cure this disease.

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