FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Joe O’Leary | Joe.OLeary@cga.ct.gov | 508-479-4969

MEDIA ADVISORY – MONDAY – HEALTH EXPERTS CALL OUT HARTFORD AS AN ‘ASTHMA CAPITAL’

Who: State Senator Saud Anwar, Senate Chair of the Public Health Committee; Dr. Mark Mitchell, Environmental Justice Leader; the Executive Director and New England Executive Director of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America; representatives from the Sierra Club of Connecticut

Where: Legislative Office Building, Hartford, Room 1A

When: Monday, October 26, 11:15 a.m.

On Monday, advocates, legislators and health professionals will gather in Hartford to discuss the city’s status as the 8^th biggest “Asthma Capital” out of 100 U.S. cities. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s ranking measured emergency room visits, deaths from asthma and asthma prevalence. The city ranked fourth nationally in asthma prevalence and additionally received an F for high ozone days in an American Lung Association report. Advocates will discuss recent health threats asthma posed to Hartford residents and the struggles faced by other environmental justice communities, as well as potential strategies to improve local and regional air quality.