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South Dakota Students with Asthma Can Breathe Easier After New Law Allows Self-Administered Medications

PIERRE, S.D., March 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When Governor Mike Rounds signed Senate Bill 83 into law last month, school became a safer place for the estimated 18,665 children in South Dakota with asthma, a chronic lung disease that also effects more than 43,000 adults in the state.

"We are very pleased that students now have the right to carry their medications with them, so they can better control their asthma as part of an action plan they develop with their parents, school nurses and primary caregivers," said Penny Gottier Fena, executive director of the American Lung Association in South Dakota. "The signing of this bill has national implications, as now every state allows students to carry asthma medications with them at school."

The American Lung Association in South Dakota offers a free telephone consulting service for those with questions about asthma and other lung diseases: 1-800-LUNG-USA. Information is also available online at www.lungsd.org. The nonprofit is also planning a major fundraiser "LungWalk" on April 10 at the Empire Mall in Sioux Falls, SD.

While effective medications and action plans can help people with asthma live normal lives, the chronic illness remains a major public health concern. In 2008, approximately 23.3 million Americans had asthma. In 2008, the condition accounted for an estimated 14.4 million lost school days in children and 14.2 million lost work days in adults. Asthma is a leading cause of activity limitation and costs our nation $20.7 billion in health care costs annually.

SOURCE American Lung Association in South Dakota