THE FUTURE

Regrettably, Dr. Patrick Hessel, Director Epidemiology Unit, has moved to a new and exciting career opportunity in Chicago. Thus, the population-based epidemiological focus has been lost from the Centre. Currently, population-based studies are on hold, and their future will be dependent upon recruitment of a Clinical Director.

Most of the activity related to asthma was, to this point, focused on assessing the magnitude of the problem in Alberta. The Asthma Centre's future goal would be to re-establish an Epidemiology Unit to continue the work initiated by Dr. Hessel and his staff. Having generated this data, the future Epidemiology Unit would investigate the causes of asthma in the Province. The limited data available indicates that risk factors for asthma in Alberta may differ from risk factors in other provinces. Special attention would be paid to indoor air quality in homes, schools and office buildings and outdoor air quality. Investigation into the effects of exposures in occupational environments will continue, with emphasis on agricultural workers and construction workers. Investigations into health care utilization for lung disease has highlighted the importance of acute respiratory infections. An effort would be made to use existing information on the control of respiratory infections to initiate intervention programs aimed at reducing the spread of these infections in elementary schools.