St. Vincent and the Grenadines joined the Global Community in Observing World Asthma Day on Tuesday May 1st.
World Asthma day is an annual awareness event supported by Global Initiative for Asthma, GINA, to improve asthma awareness and care around the world.
On Sunday April 30th the Ministry of Health Wellness and the Environment, through NBC Radio’s Views and Issues Programme, looked specifically at asthma in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
An estimated 235 million people worldwide, including 24.6 million in the United States, have asthma – defined as a chronic lung disease characterized by episodes of airway narrowing and obstruction, causing wheezing, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath.
Dr. Conrad Nedd, General Physician, said the disease can have a negative impact on one’s quality of life but added that asthma is not unique to St. Vincent and the Grenadines and that the air quality is one of the major contributors to an increase in the incidence of the disease.
World Asthma Day was observed under the theme “It’s Never Too Late”.
