The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently presented AANMA with its prestigious Ozone Layer Protection Award for “Extraordinary Public Communication and Outreach Supporting the Transition to Ozone-Safe Inhalers.”
The award recognizes AANMA’s patient education campaign surrounding mandatory changes being made in the metered-dose inhalers used to treat asthma, COPD and other respiratory conditions. When the international community banned the use of CFCs (ozone-depeleting chemicals used as propellants in respiratory inhalers) and U.S. officials ordered pharmaceutical manufacturers to develop new inhalers, no provision was made to educate patients and healthcare professionals about the changes.
As the leading nonprofit patient education organization for people with asthma and their families, AANMA developed a range of outreach programs to fill the vacuum. The EPA award cited the organization’saward-winning “Smart Moves to an HFA Inhaler” national campaign for healthcare professionals and patients; interactive web-based education program; Allergy & Asthma Today magazine and The MA Report newsletter; and a Support Center staffed by an registered nurse/asthma educator to answer patients’ questions through e-mail or a toll-free phone number.
The award also lauded the organization’s advocacy work with members of Congress at AANMA’s annual Asthma Awareness Day Capitol Hill to draw attention to the inhaler transition
EPA presented the award to AANMA at the EPA Awards Ceremony and Reception at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
The EPA’s Ozone Layer Protection Awards were established in 1990 to recognize outstanding contributions to ozone layer protection. Since the annual awards began, EPA has honored recipients from more than 50 different countries.
Click here to read the press release. [Link: http://www.aanma.org/press-room/press-releases/042209EPA/]
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