The world needs more rapid and effective action to reduce air pollution and more investment in training to combat asthma, campaigners said yesterday.
On World Asthma Day yesterday (5 May) the World Lung Foundation outlined the measures necessary to reduce the global burden of asthma.
The asthma toll is “becoming particularly acute in rapidly urbanising, low and middle income countries least likely to have strict environmental regulation and well-funded health systems,” they say.
The experts also call for economists, environmentalists and development professionals to join the fight against the rising burden of asthma.
“While asthma sufferers can be helped to manage their condition more effectively, they need to be diagnosed, treated and trained in the management of their condition by properly qualified medical professionals,” said Dr Neil Schluger of the WLF.
“Many low and middle income countries simply don’t have sufficient capacity in terms of the number of lung health specialists or general practitioners to serve their populations. That needs to change if we are to prevent an increasing toll of needless deaths from asthma.”
The ongoing East Africa Training Initiative, run by the WLF, has shown that partnerships between academics and governments “can help to increase sustainable capacity in a highly effective way”, says Dr Schluger, and he recommends this approach in countries with a lack of lung health specialists.
In addition, many studies have shown a link between air pollution and asthma exacerbations.
“Taken together, growing urban populations, a lack of accessible and affordable medical care and treatment, and increased levels of industrial and individually-generated air pollution is likely to make things much worse for people with lung disease generally and asthma in particular,” he warned.
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