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Greetings From Chicago
Greetings From Chicago Richard M. Daley, Mayor, City of Chicago; and Sheila Lyne, RSM, Commissioner, Department of Public Health, City of Chicago
(CHEST 1999; 116:131S) has become an important public concern for A sthma urban areas across the world. Our lack of understand-
ing 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 healthcare 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.
CHEST / 116 / 4 / OCTOBER, 1999 SUPPLEMENT
131S
(CHEST 1999; 116:131S) has become an important public concern for A sthma urban areas across the world. Our lack of understand-
ing 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 healthcare 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.
CHEST / 116 / 4 / OCTOBER, 1999 SUPPLEMENT
131S