For more information about World Asthma Day activities, visit the GINA (Global Initiative for Asthma) website by clicking here.
WORLD ASTHMA DAY - MAY 2, 2006
World Asthma Day is an annual event developed by GINA (the Global Initiative for Asthma) in order to raise awareness about asthma and improve asthma care throughout the world. The theme of World Asthma Day will be “The Unmet Needs of Asthma” and was selected to emphasize the need for better asthma treatment and control. Addressing the unmet needs of asthma leads to improved asthma control and, in turn, abates the burden of the disease.1
Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by difficulty breathing. The incidence of asthma is increasing globally, especially among children. Around 8% of the Swiss population suffers from asthma compared to only 2% 25-30 years ago. In Australia, one child in six under the age of 16 is affected. In Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Peru and Uruguay, prevalence of asthma symptoms in children varies from 20% to 30%.2 It is now estimated that as many as 300 million people worldwide suffer from asthma and by 2025, an additional 100 million people will suffer from asthma due, in part to increasing urbanization and pollution.3
It is believed that asthma accounts for one in every 250 deaths worldwide.3 In Canada it is estimated that more than 80 percent of deaths due to asthma could be prevented with proper education.4
Worldwide, the economic costs associated with asthma are estimated to exceed those of Tuberculosis and HIV / AIDS combined.2 The indirect costs, such as lost productivity due to missed work and school absenteeism are substantial. In the United States, annual asthma care costs (direct and indirect) exceed 6 billion USD.2 Britain spends approximately 1.8 billion USD on health care for asthma and because of days lost through illness.2 In Canada, asthma is the leading cause of absenteeism from school and the third leading cause of work loss.4
As asthma diagnosis and hospitalizations continue to be on the rise, patient education and the development of individualized asthma action plans are essential. A partnership between the patient or caregiver and their healthcare provider is the key to establishing an efficacious asthma management program.
The AeroChamber* brand of Valved Holding Chamber (VHC) and TruZone* Peak Flow Meter (PFM) are an effective combination for better asthma management. The AeroChamber* brand of VHC helps to ensure that aerosol medication gets where it's needed - the patient's lungs. Used daily, the TruZone* PFM can alert patients to unfavourable changes in peak expiratory flows even before symptoms present, helping to prevent hospital visits.
Trudell Medical International* develops and manufactures pharmaceutical aerosol drug delivery devices for human and animal health application. We support the need for World Asthma Day and the importance of raising global awareness of this chronic lung disease.
1 The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA)
2 World Health Organization, Fact Sheet on Bronchial Asthma, #206, January 2000
3 Masoli M, Fabian D, Holt S, Beasley R. Global Burden of Asthma. Developed for the Global Initiative for Asthma. May, 2004.
4 Harrison BC, Pearson MG. Audit in acute severe asthma-who benefits? J R Coll Physicians Lond 1993;27
To forward this email blast to a friend or colleague, please click here.
To subscribe to receive future email blasts, please click here.
If you no longer wish to receive email messages, please click here.
* trade marks and registered trade marks of Trudell Medical International. © Trudell Medical International 2006. All rights reserved
MD-365A-0406