Short Term Solutions Needed for West Oakland's Asthma Epidemic

September 21, 2010, 3:40 pm • Posted by Xan West
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Freeway overpasses surround a neighborhood basketball court in West Oakland

Freeway overpasses surround a neighborhood basketball court in West Oakland (photo: Xan West)

“I guess it feels like someone is sitting on top of me and I can’t breathe,” says Justice, a 12-year-old West Oakland resident and asthma survivor. Like Justice, more than one-third of adults and one-fifth of youths [PDF] in West Oakland have asthma. Children in this area are more than seven times more likely than other children in California to be hospitalized due to asthma. Diesel toxins have been tested to be seven times higher per person than other parts of Alameda County, mainly due to trucking and shipping from the port.

In the time it takes Justice to wake up and lay her head back down, as many as 10,000 diesel-emitting trucks may pass by her small triangle neighborhood of West Oakland, designated only by its freeways and port that insulate it.

However, in addition to poor air quality, there is only one small medical clinic in all of West Oakland, which lacks an allergist, pulmonologist or lab.  Justice’s family travels out of the neighborhood to get her to the doctor and her medications, generally resulting in a missed school day for Justice and missed work day for whomever takes her. In fact, asthma is often cited as the reason for absenteeism amongst West Oakland students. However, Justice is one of the lucky minority in West Oakland who is medically insured. Most estimates put one-half to three-fourths of West Oakland residents without insurance other than MediCal or MedicAid.

Often lost in a long list of community ailments, West Oakland residents indeed deserve to not be poisoned by the pollution that wafts from the shipping companies that have been enticed to Oakland’s shores. However, in the shorter term, West Oakland’s residents deserve access to medical coverage, as well as realistic access to medical specialists. This would shift care for asthma and many other poverty related diseases from emergency care to preventative and long-term care.

Filed under: West Oakland
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About Xan West

Xan West is currently the senior producer of Childhood Matters and Nuestros Niños (Spanish language), two parenting radio programs that air throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. Xan holds a BA in Broadcast Journalism from American University's School of Communications. She has worked extensively in talk radio for outlets such as XM Satellite Radio, NPR and Pacifica. In addition, she has produced programs including Interfaith Voices, All-American Talk Radio, Prison Abolition Radio and many more. She is thrilled to have interviewed people as wide ranging as Mumia Abu-Jamal and Eminem. A proud Oakland native, Xan has lived in the Foster-Hoover area (more familiarly referred to as “Ghost Town”) of West Oakland for the past six years. This is the area directly southwest of the MacArthur Maze, bordering Emeryville. She has worked in community organizing in West Oakland with organizations such as Critical Resistance and People’s Grocery. Also, for two years, she was a teacher at Westlake Middle School, serving the West Oakland community. Her favorite offerings in West Oakland are Mosswood and DeFremery Parks, the Black Dot Café and Nellie’s Soul Food Kitchen. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening with children in the neighborhood, and running and hiking through Oakland.

Comments (1)

  1. Rebecca says:
    September 26, 2010 at 10:00 pm

    This post does a great job of describing how air pollution and asthma create complex problems for communities. I live in the San Joaquín Valley, and we also have both a high incidence of asthma, and many of those other cumulative health factors. Thanks for sharing!

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