BOB DOUGHTY: And I'm Bob Doughty. Spring has returned to the United States. The sky is blue, the grass is green and many plants are flowering. Spring can be a beautiful time of year. But it is especially troublesome for people with asthma. High pollen levels can keep asthma sufferers from enjoying spring flowers and the weather.
(MUSIC)
SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: May is Asthma Awareness Month in the United States. And May first is World Asthma Day. The Global Initiative for Asthma, or GINA, organizes the event every year. GINA is a joint effort of the World Health Organization and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of America's National Institutes of Health.
GINA held its first World Asthma Day fourteen years ago, in nineteen ninety-eight. This year, the theme for World Asthma Day is "You Can Control Your Asthma." GINA first launched this education campaign as part of the event in two thousand seven. The group notes that while asthma cannot be cured, it can be successfully controlled.
BOB DOUGHTY: Asthma is a disorder that causes breathing passages to narrow. This reduces the amount of air entering and leaving the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing.
The World Health Organization says asthma affects about two hundred thirty-five million people worldwide. The WHO says asthma is the most common chronic disease among children. And it says the disease affects people in all countries around the world and at every development level. However, the WHO says eighty percent of asthma deaths happen in low and lower middle income countries.
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