![[ Visit Client Website ]](images/banner.jpg)
Key Objectives:
- Share the pollen strategic vision and funding/advocacy strategy developed at pollen summit
- Identify partners among state and territorial epidemiologists for implementing the vision and funding/advocacy strategy
- Solicit aid in implementation, funding, and advocacy
Brief Summary:
Pollen and other aeroallergens are important risk factors in asthma, allergic rhinitis, and other health conditions. A worsening climate is projected to make these factors significantly more important in coming decades. Despite its current and emerging public health importance, however, there is no coordinated public health strategy to address pollen exposure and its health implications. Despite the lack of a coordinated strategy, there has been significant activity and concern among federal and state public health agencies, academicians, and non-governmental organizations to develop and implement activities to reduce the impacts of pollen exposure. Among these are the efforts established initially by the CDC’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Program and more recently by the Asthma Workgroup of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE). Pollen is also a key climate impact identified by the National Climate Assessment and the CDC Climate Ready Cities and States Initiative. Given the past accomplishments and increasing concern that more concerted work regarding the public health implications of pollen exposure need to be undertaken, the CSTE Asthma Workgroup hosted a “Pollen Summit” on May 14-15, 2015. The goals of the pollen summit were to:
- Establish a strategic vision for a coordinated pollen/aeroallergen assessment and adaptation strategy;
- Develop specifications for pollen monitoring that could emerge into a national network;
- Develop a funding/advocacy strategy to ensure effective implementation