World Asthma Day 2012

World Asthma Day 2012, organized and sponsored by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), will be held on May 1, 2012 as a partnership between health care groups and asthma educators to raise awareness about asthma and improve asthma care throughout the world.

The theme of World Asthma Day 2012 will be “You Can Control Your Asthma.” This year’s event continues the focus on this positive theme established over the past several years, and is consistent with the emphasis on asthma control set out in the latest versions of the GINA documents.

The event will also bring continued efforts around the Asthma Control Challenge, a global campaign GINA launched on World Asthma Day 2010 to encourage governments, health departments, and health care professionals to improve asthma control and reduce asthma hospitalization 50% in 5 years. Researchers and public health workers around the world are encouraged to enter their information in the online data collection system to help track their
progress towards this goal: http://www.core.ubc.ca/Asthma/GINA.


Asthma control is the goal of treatment and can be achieved in the vast majority of asthma patients with proper management. A person’s asthma is under control when he or she has:
• No (or minimal) asthma symptoms.
• No waking at night due to asthma.
• No (or minimal) need to use “reliever” medication.
• The ability to do normal physical activity and exercise.
• Normal (or near-normal) lung function test results (PEF and FEV1).
• No (or very infrequent) asthma attacks.


A strategy for achieving and maintaining asthma control is set out in the GINA Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention. The strategy requires four interrelated components of
therapy:

• Develop patient/doctor partnership.
• Identify and reduce exposure to risk factors.
• Assess, treat, and monitor asthma.
• Manage asthma exacerbations.


Under this strategy, asthma is treated in a stepwise manner to achieve and maintain control of the disease. Medication is increased—“stepped up”—when asthma is not controlled, and gradually stepped down once good control is achieved and maintained for a period of time. 

Respiratory Decade joins World Allergy Week 2012!

Dear Respiratory friends we have great news: next week is World Allergy Week 2012! This is Global event which is organized by World Allergy Organization! Join this important event! Be a part of this Respiratory event in your country at the local level and you will become visible globally!

The prevalence of allergic diseases worldwide is rising  dramatically in both developed and developing countries.

These diseases include:  

  asthma; 

  rhinitis; 

  anaphylaxis; 
  drug, food, and insect allergy; 
  eczema; 
  urticaria (hives) 
  angioedema.
This increase is especially problematic in children, who are bearing the greatest burden of the rising trend which has occurred over the last two decades. In spite of this increase, even in the developed world, services for patients with allergic diseases are fragmented and far from ideal. Very few countries have comprehensive services in this field of medicine.

Launch of International Collaboration in Asthma, Allergy and Immunology

The reasons for the negative effects of allergies and asthma are variable, but in most countries patients with these diseases are either inadequately or improperly treated, resulting in a greater negative effect and resources expended. The awareness of these trends among politicians, other policymakers, patients, the general public, and many health care insurers outside the specialty of allergy and immunology is limited. This lack of awareness and knowledge gap has resulted in reduced resources allocated to treat and promote research for these diseases.

Recognizing a lack of consensus-driven information and general recommendations, four of the most influential allergy/immunology professional organizations have joined forces to launch the International Collaboration in Asthma, Allergy and Immunology (iCAALL). Participating in iCAALL are the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI), the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI), the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) and the World Allergy Organization (WAO).

Here is a link to press-conference.

iCAALL

iCAALL is designed to collect and disseminate consensus-driven information about allergies, asthma and immunological diseases. Communicating this knowledge can positively impact diagnosis and treatment, as well as cost containment and policy decisions.

A major focus of this initiative is the production of a series of International Consensus (ICON) reports. These documents offer general recommendations based on global challenges in caring for patients with allergic and immunologic diseases.

The first ICON was dedicated to food allergies and was just published: 

Food Allergy ICON