December 30, 2022 | Originally published in Mississippi Free Press
By: Gerri A. Cannon-Smith, MD
Take a deep breath. For the one in 10 Mississippi schoolchildren who suffer from asthma, that’s not always an easy thing to do. But new federal funding for electric school buses could help them breathe easier—if our school districts choose to accept it.
Asthma, the most common chronic health condition in children, causes “flare-ups” of wheezing and difficulty breathing. Students with asthma are absent from school more than twice as often as their classmates, due to doctors/clinic visits, trips to the emergency department and hospitalizations.
One of the best ways to prevent asthma flare-ups is to avoid triggers such as pollen, dust, cigarette smoke and air pollution. And the buses that carry kids to and from school are a major source of the latter…READ THE FULL ARTICLE>
Dr. Gerri A. Cannon-Smith, a Rankin County native, has more than 30 years’ experience as a pediatrician, public health practitioner, clinical administrator, PH/Disparity scholar and public health faculty. She currently works as PH/Pediatric Consultant at Innovative Health Strategies, LLC, and is a 2022 Medical Society Consortium Climate and Health Equity Fellow. She also chairs Mississippi Health Professionals for Climate and Health Equity.