As President Obama leads a national dialogue about our health care system, the Association of Public Television Stations is championing the enormous role that public broadcasting can play in comprehensive national health reform efforts. While there is a lot of focus on different models for health insurance, our nation cannot reform our health system by focusing only on how to pay to treat existing illnesses—we can save tens if not hundreds of billions of dollars annually by preventing debilitating conditions from developing in the first place.

As the health reform debate moves forward, there is genuine bipartisan support for the vital role that disease prevention and wellness education must play in a comprehensive solution. Public broadcasting stations have a long track record in pursuing local and national disease prevention and health wellness education and awareness initiatives.

In Boston, for example, WGBH teamed with the Children’s Hospital of Boston, the Boston Children’s Museum, the Boston Public Health Commission and the Boston Public Library to launch the Kids with Asthma Can media campaign. Using popular characters like Arthur and Buster, this initiative was designed to address the extremely high rates of asthma among Boston’s African-American and Latino children. Watch I have Asthma and it's okay performed by Buster Baxter.

Like WGBH, local public broadcasting stations are actively working with local officials, hospitals and community institutions to address health issues in innovative ways through broadcast, the Internet, and on the ground outreach.