May is Asthma Awareness Month

A LETTER FROM CDC -  ATSDR

Greetings Partners,

May is Asthma Awareness Month. I invite you and your organization to be involved in the release of CDC’s Asthma Vital Signs on Tuesday, May 3, 2011, which coincides with World Asthma Day.

The CDC Vital Signs is a call to action each month concerning a single, important public health topic. CDC believes that by focusing on a single topic using multiple media devices, the states might better identify these health problems in their area and work towards their improvement. More information can be accessed on the CDC Vital Signs website.

To celebrate asthma awareness on May 3rd, CDC will complete the following activities:

1. Hold a media teleconference led by Dr. Thomas Frieden at noon on May 3rd;
2. Release an asthma MMWR Early Release;
3. Publish a professionally designed fact sheet for consumer audiences and a dedicated website that mirrors the fact sheet on this topic;
4. Issue a media release;
5. Send out a series of announcements via social media tools (Twitter, Facebook, etc.); and
6. Send out a Capitol Hill alert through CDC-Washington Office.

Please join us in sharing the Asthma Vital Signs on May 3rd by:

Spotlighting the Asthma Vital Signs on your organization’s website, including a link to the CDC Vital Signs web page;

Announcing it to your membership through newsletters, listservs, e-bulletins, etc.;

Using your organization’s social media tools to highlight it; and/or

Sharing the MMWR, fact sheet and press release with your organization’s media/public affairs team.

In the morning of May 3rd, we will e-mail you the Asthma Vital Signs package that includes a copy of the MMWR, fact sheet and press release. This information is embargoed until noon that day. We can also send you printed copies of the Vital Signs fact sheets.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Anne Venner in NCEH’s Division of Environmental Hazards and Health Effects at (770) 488-3839 or Avenner@cdc.gov  or Margo Younger in NCEH/ASTDR’s Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation at (770) 488-0612 or MYounger@cdc.gov

Thank you all for your help! Please feel free to share this announcement with your colleagues and friends.

Sincerely,

Chris Portier, Ph.D.
Director
National Center for Environmental Health /
Agency for Toxic Substance and Disease Registry
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention