St. Louis American: Inequality in the air
Take a deep breath of air. Is it fresh?
Unfortunately, for many in our community fresh air is not a guarantee. Where you live in our city plays a big role in how healthy your environment is. This is not just happenstance, this is by design.
As our city struggles to dismantle the systems of racism and oppression, there is one area that for too long has remained outside of the conversation – the health of the very environment in which we are living.
In my district, many people, especially children, are struggling to breathe. What more basic human right can there be but to have access to healthy breathable air?
A 2012 St. Louis Regional Health Commission study found that black children are 7.5 more likely than white children to visit the emergency room for asthma and 6.6 times as likely to be hospitalized for asthma. In parts of North St. Louis city and county, 1 in 5 children has asthma. Accessibility of care and factors within the home contribute, as well as socioeconomic factors, but pollution is just one more burden placed on the lungs of already vulnerable kids.
At the Normandy School District, an asthma bus has to make weekly visits to the school to address the high rates of childhood asthma. Meanwhile, new reports from the Missouri Hospital Association indicate that the pediatric asthma rates in our region are twice as high as the statewide average and emergency room visits were higher among children living in poverty.
