SCR 172: Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month.

WHEREAS, About 4,750,000 children in the United States currently have asthma; and

WHEREAS, Nearly 28,000,000 people in the United States have asthma; and

WHEREAS, Over 3,150,000 adults and children in California have asthma; and

WHEREAS, Asthma is one of the most common noncommunicable diseases among children; and

WHEREAS, One million individuals per year visit emergency departments because of asthma’s effects; and

WHEREAS, Asthma is a leading cause of hospitalizations and school absences due to a chronic disease among children; and

WHEREAS, The total economic cost of asthma in the United States was $81.9 billion per year from 2008 to 2013, which is approximately $115 billion when adjusted for inflation; and

WHEREAS, Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous individuals in the United States face the highest burden of asthma; and

WHEREAS, Asthma is a manageable disease that claimed the lives of over 3,100 people in the United States in 2023, including 351 people in California; and

WHEREAS, Twenty-one million eight hundred thousand people in the United States have food allergies, including about 3,900,000 children; and

WHEREAS, Food allergies have increased among United States children over the past 20 years, with the greatest increase in Black children; and

WHEREAS, Children with food allergies are two to four times more likely to have asthma or other allergic diseases; and

WHEREAS, People with asthma and food allergies need access to affordable health insurance and to the medications and devices they need at affordable prices; and

WHEREAS, In May 1984, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Week at the request of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, which has since expanded to the entire month of May; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby recognizes the month of May 2026 as Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month in California, and encourages the people of the State of California to observe the month with appropriate ceremonies and activities; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.