The World Asthma Day is being observed today (Tuesday) in Bangladesh as elsewhere in the world to create awareness about asthma, a non-communicable disease that affects both children and adults in greater numbers.
The day is observed on the first Tuesday in May every year.
It is a common chronic disease among children.
The disease that is characterized by inflammation and narrowing of the small airways in the lungs affects millions of people world over. According to World Health Organisation's 2019 estimate, Asthma affected nearly 262 million people and caused 455000 deaths. The figures have surely gone further up in recent years.
According to an unofficial estimate, nearly 10 million people are affected by asthma in Bangladesh. The disease is caused by genetic factors, pollution, inhalation of allergens, and change of seasons and temperature, infection of airways leading to the lung and adverse medicinal reactions. The number of patients coming to the outpatient department of the government Chest Diseases Hospital at Mohakhali has been rising constantly, according to doctors there.
Besides, spores produced by moulds when breathed in can trigger asthmatic symptoms. Damp and mould can also worsen the risk of getting asthma, according to a research finding. Damp walls are a common sight in many residential houses in Bangladesh which make the inmates there vulnerable to asthma.
Experts are of the opinion that the government must improve the overall environmental situation across the country side by side creating greater awareness among the population about the ways of escaping the reach of the disease that causes severe physical distress.
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