Reference no: EM133878240
Question
One health issue that really concerns me and honestly hits home is asthma, especially in under-resourced communities. I've had asthma since I was just 15 days old. I was born and raised in the Bronx, and for a while, I lived near the Cross Bronx Expressway around Jerome Avenue. That area is packed with traffic and pollution, and I grew up surrounded by cigarette smoke in the household and neighborhood. All of that added up, and it made my asthma worse.
According to the CDC (2023), around 25 million people in the U.S. have asthma, including over 4.5 million children. But the burden isn't evenly shared. Puerto Rican children are more likely to have asthma and get hospitalized for it; I saw my cousin go through it too, being given so many medications as a kid. Asthma is a serious issue that deserves more attention and investment.
What's frustrating is that asthma is very modifiable with the right support. People can reduce exposure to dust, pests, mold, and smoke and better control their symptoms with proper treatment and education. But it's not always that simple when you live in an older building, in a polluted area, or don't have access to doctors or medicine. So even though asthma can be controlled, access and environment make it difficult.
The two biggest obstacles to me are lack of access to consistent healthcare and environmental injustice. Families in low-income neighborhoods often don't have the luxury to move away from highways or smoke-free homes. They're just trying to get by. That's why asthma can't just be treated with medicine; it must be addressed through public health, housing policy, and community-level change.