World Asthma Day's theme 'You can control your Asthma'

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Pakhi Hussain

02 May, 2011

May 3 is World Asthma Day. Global Initiative for Asthma is spreading awareness about asthma. India, too, is observing the day with different camps and events. About five per cent of Indian..

THE THEME for this World Asthma Day, which falls on May 3, 2011, is ‘You Can Control Your Asthma.’ This theme emphasizes the latest guidelines handed out by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). In India, the World Asthma Day (WAD) will be observed by organizing free camps and different events in various states.

Ahmedabad, which is the seventh state in the country to have the highest number of Asthma patients, is organizing 20 events in various parts of the city such as Vastrapur, Kankaria and Ashram Road to raise the awareness level of the people about the chronic disease.

Talking about the disease, a leading pulmonologist and President of Gujarat State Chest Physicians Association, Dr Narendra Raval said, “Ahmedabad stands seventh in the country in number of people having asthma and other respiratory diseases and hence there is a dire need to raise awareness on the disease's symptoms and preventive and precautionary measures. The number of asthmatics is rapidly increasing among women and children in the city."

Chennai is also organizing free pulmonary camps from May 2 to May 7 in order to observe asthma day and to spread awareness. The patients of the camp would undergo the basic asthma test, which would include PEFR and Spirometry.

It is a high time that the people of India take notice of this disease as 25 per cent of the population suffers from allergy and 5 percent suffer from chronic asthma.

In the findings of Indian Study on Epidemiology of Asthma, Respiratory Symptoms and Chronic Bronchitis (INSEARCH) around 69.18 lakh people, above the age of 15, suffer from this disease in India.

Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), an organization, works with health organizations and professionals to reduce the menace of asthma in the World. This organization was launched in 1993 and one of its major works is to organize the World Asthma Day. This organization also publishes guidelines to combat asthma.
GINA is one of the founding bodies in the World Health Organization’s Global Alliance Against Chronic Respiratory Diseases (GARD). The major aim of this body is to spread awareness about asthma and to improve the asthma care in the world.

This body functions with the help of the doctors, health care professionals and people who want to reduce asthma.

Asthma is an inflammatory disorder of the airways, and causes shortness of breath, wheezing sensation, coughing and chest tightness. When a person suffers an attack, he/she feels the muscles surrounding the airways becoming tight and the lining of the air passage swells causing insufficient passage of air for the person.

People with asthma are normally allergic to a variety of things such as animals (pet hair or dander), dust, changes in weather (most often cold weather), chemicals in the air or in food, exercise, mold, pollen or strong emotions (stress).

Asthma attacks are very dangerous as they can last for 1 minute to days. There are some known symptoms of asthma, which are cough with or without phlegm, pulling of the skin in between the ribs while breathing and shortness of breath.

The most common precautionary measure that an asthma patient should take is to keep away from things that trigger the attack. The best treatments for asthma patients are to prepare a plan with a doctor to prevent an attack, and also to keep some emergency medicine handy, in case of an attack.