World Asthma Day on Tuesday, 6 May raises awareness of asthma, an increasing problem in low- and middle-income countries.
The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) will release its 2014 Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention on World Asthma Day – Tuesday, 6 May. The Union welcomes this new report as a critical step towards raising international awareness of the chronic disease that affects more children than any other.
An editorial in the May issue of the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease highlights asthma as a “serious global health issue, with increasing prevalence in many developing countries, rising treatment costs and a near 30% increase in global years lost to disability since 1990”.
“The Union has worked closely with numerous low- and middle-income countries to improve asthma management over the past 25 years,” says José Luis Castro, Interim Executive Director of The Union. “Our guides, training and other resources have been widely used to foster standard case management; and our advocacy for access to quality-assured essential asthma medicines at affordable cost has made a significant contribution – yet asthma continues to be under-recognised and under-funded. With more than 235 million people affected by asthma, this is unacceptable, and we’re pleased to join with GINA in helping to carry that message to all stakeholders in public health.”
Read the editorial:
The 2014 GINA 2014 report will be available for download on 6 May at www.ginasthma.org
Resources from The Union
- The 2011 Global Asthma Report (published by The Union and the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood)
Resources from the Forum of International Respiratory Diseases (FIRS)