World Asthma Day is observed every year on the first Tuesday of May to spread awareness and care about asthma in the world. This year it falls on 3rd of May 2022. An annual event is organised by the Global Initiative for Asthma. This year the theme is ‘Closing Gaps in Asthma Care’. Asthma, the chronic inflammatory disease of the airways, affects 300 million people worldwide and India alone has 15 million asthma patients.
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History of World Asthma Day:
World Asthma Day is annually organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). In 1998, the first World Asthma Day was celebrated in more than 35 countries in conjunction with the first World Asthma Meeting in Barcelona, Spain.
What is Asthma?
- Asthma is a chronic disease of the lungs that causes breathing problems. Symptoms of asthma include breathlessness, coughing, wheezing and a feeling of tightness in the chest. These symptoms vary in frequency and severity.
- When the symptoms are not under control, the airways can become inflamed making breathing difficult. Whilst asthma can not be cured, the symptoms can be controlled enabling people with asthma to live full lives.
- It is a long-term disease, which makes your airways narrow and swell and may produce extra mucus. A person suffering from asthma can have difficulty in breathing, which can trigger coughing, wheezing and chest tightness.