PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius highlighted the importance of managing childhood asthma and reducing H1N1 risk.

Sebelius met with students and their parents at Thurgood Marshall Elementary, one of 16 schools in Philadelphia that partners with the Merck Childhood Asthma Network Inc. to help students better manage their asthma.

Begun in 2005, the Philadelphia project has improved asthma outcomes for children and reduced school absenteeism by using a community-based approach that integrates families, community agencies, schools and healthcare providers to implement scientifically proven asthma interventions.

One out of four students in the West, Southwest, Olney, Logan and Germantown communities had been diagnosed with asthma or have been admitted to the hospital for wheezing, compared to one in 10 nationwide.

The Philadelphia program provides children with asthma and their families access to three key services: classes that educate parents, other caretakers and children with asthma; home visits where community health workers help families eliminate or control allergens and irritants within the home; and services that connect families to asthma care coordinators.

"We applaud Secretary Sebelius for recognizing that staying healthy can be a challenge for students with asthma -- a factor that is even further complicated with the possibility of being exposed to the H1N1 virus, or swine flu, which can increase the severity of asthma symptoms, leading to possible hospitalizations," Dr. Floyd Malveaux, executive director of MCAN, said in a statement.