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 Wake County Asthma Coalition's Mission:
- To increase public awareness of asthma, its prevalence, and related health issues in Wake County
- To provide education about asthma and related health issues, and
- To support and empower the citizens of Wake County in identifying measures for change to improve conditions related to asthma health in local communities throughout Wake County, as needed.
For questions or additional information about the WCAC and/or its upcoming community projects and events, please feel free to contact one of its members. We hope you will consider joining us to "Do Something" about asthma in our communities.
Click here for a list of members and their contact information. 
Upcoming Projects
The Coalition seeks your active support with the following projects/initiatives we feel would benefit asthmatic citizens in Wake County, both child and adult alike. Both of these programs have been very successful in other states and are currently being employed in other counties in North Carolina. As the "Capital Area", we feel the need to "get busy" and do something about asthma also. We are hoping to begin implementing these programs between 2008 - 2009. They are:
- Winning with Asthma - an asthma education program designed for PE teachers, coaches, park and recreation staff.
- This program provides education in recognizing the "early symptoms" of an asthma attack for individuals, and especially those with exercise induced asthma, and how to initiate prompt treatment. This information is conveniently provided embossed on a clipboard that we would like to place in every PE teacher, athletic coach, park and recreational staff members hand in Wake County.
- Air Quality Flag Program - this program promotes public awareness of the Air Quality Index and daily Air Quality Forecasts.
- Our goal is to provide air quality flags to all elementary schools in Wake County initially, and proceed to middle and high schools, daycare facilities, recreational facilities and government buildings. The flags are color coordinated to correspond to the Air Quality Color Code Guide, which utilizes the colors green, yellow, orange and red. There are 4 flags per set.
For questions or additional details, please feel free to contact any member of the Wake County Asthma Coalition (WCAC): Debbie Credle, RN - 350-7979, WakeMed Children's Asthma Program
Wake County Asthma Information: A Selected Snapshot View
In 2006, the prevalence of lifetime ("ever had") asthma was 11.6% (for North Carolina, this was 10.9%) [Translation: In 2006, about 11.6% of all Wake County residents had been told by a healthcare professional that they had asthma at some point in their lives. This percentage was 10.9% for all North Carolinians.]
In 2006, the prevalence of current ("now") asthma was 5.6% (for North Carolina, this was 6.8%) [Translation: In 2006, about 5.6% of all Wake County residents said they still had asthma. This percentage was 6.8% for all North Carolinians.]
In 2005, the asthma hospitalization rate for all ages was 78.8 per 100,000 population (for North Carolina, this was 128.5 per 100,000 population) [Translation: In 2005, for every 100,000 Wake County residents, about 79 were hospitalized because of asthma. For all North Carolinians, there were about 128 for every 100,000 people.]
In 2005, the asthma hospitalization rate for ages 0-14 was 110.7 per 100,000 population (for North Carolina, this was 164.6 per 100,000 population) [Translation: In 2005, for every 100,000 Wake County children under age 15, about 111 were hospitalized because of asthma. For all North Carolinians, there were about 165 for every 100,000 children under the age of 15.]
In 2005, there were 8 deaths due to asthma (for North Carolina, there were 116). From 2002-2006, there were 29 deaths due to asthma, resulting in an age-adjusted death rate of 1.1 per 1,000,000 population (for North Carolina, there were 584 deaths due to asthma, resulting in an age-adjusted death rate of 1.4 per 1,000,000).
For 2005-2006, the prevalence of lifetime ("ever had") asthma for children younger than 18 was 12.9% (for North Carolina, 2005 - 17.8%, 2006 - 17.1%) [Translation: For 2005 and 2006, about 12.9% of all Wake County children under the age of 18 had been told by a healthcare professional that they had asthma. This percentage was 17.8% in 2005 and 17.1% in 2006 for all North Carolinians under the age of 18.]
For 2005-2006, the prevalence of current ("now") asthma for children younger than 18 was 7.9% (for North Carolina, 2005 - 11.5%, 2006 - 10.8%) [Translation: For 2005 and 2006, about 7.9% of all Wake County children under the age of 18 still had asthma. This percentage was 11.5% in 2005 and 10.8% in 2006 for all North Carolinians under the age of 18.]
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