Like elsewhere in the United States, treatment is the best defense for an enemy that has no known cause and no known cure. Acting on that belief, Cannell helped launch four school-based clinics in 1996. The clinics are underwritten by Yuma Regional Medical Center, which pays for care if the student has no insurance or cannot qualify for government health plans for the poor. The clinics have worked. They were missing 50 days of school a year, and now we have it down to about one or two days.
Emergency rooms see a difference as well.
They don't keep specific numbers, but anecdotal accounts have fewer kids rushing in for treatment. Cannell, now a freshman state lawmaker, says his experience with the Yuma County clinics reinforces his belief in universal health care, something he'll push for this session. He's seen what prevention can do, both to costs and to quality of life. Education also makes a difference. The American Lung Association of Arizona trains school nurses and volunteers in its Open Airways program, which teaches kids in grades 3 through 5 how to treat asthma.