NASN Joins Partnership to Fight Chron...( SILVER SPRING Md. Sept. 12 -- Th...),Health

SILVER SPRING, Md., Sept. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Association of School Nurses (NASN) today joined the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), a coalition of leaders from the health care, business, policy and labor communities committed to making chronic disease the key health care issue in the 2008 presidential election.

"Health care needs of students with chronic health conditions are complex. School Nurses throughout the country are working diligently to ensure that the special needs of students with chronic health conditions are being appropriately met. With the increasing number of children coming to school with chronic conditions, NASN joins the voice of the PFCD in raising awareness on the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases," states NASN President Donna Mazyck.

NASN joins more than 40 partner organizations in the fight against chronic disease. The PFCD is working to raise awareness of chronic disease nationwide, with a particular focus on the key primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. The partnership is led by former U.S. Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D. and Ken Thorpe, PhD, chair of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University and a former White House health policy advisor.

"The addition of NASN strengthens the PFCD in the fight against chronic disease," said Thorpe, executive director of the PFCD. "We look forward to tapping NASN members' vast knowledge and substantial resources in making chronic disease the key health care issue in the 2008 presidential election."

Chronic diseases are responsible for seven out of every 10 deaths in the U.S. - causing more than 1.7 million American deaths every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Chronic diseases are also the primary driver of health care costs, accounting for more than 75 percent of the $2 trillion dollars spent each year on health care in the U.S.

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