This week is World Asthma Day (Tuesday, May 6) and the National Asthma Campaign Scotland is organising events in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Dundee to raise awareness of Scotland's most common long-term medical condition. These events will bring together local asthma experts, researchers, supporters and participants in local research to highlight the important research being undertaken in finding a cure for asthma, preventing asthma and how best to treat it.
The Aberdeen event is being held in the University of Aberdeen's Institute of Medical Sciences, Level 7 Conference Room, at 3.30pm. Dr Graham Devereux and Professor James Friend, Consultant Chest Physicians at Grampian University Hospital will be hosting the event.
There will be short presentations by Professor Anthony Seaton CBE, University of Aberdeen, and Mr Willie Rennie of the National Asthma Campaign Scotland. Guests will include medical staff and members of the public with a special interest in asthma, as well as mothers and children who are participating in a major Aberdeen-based study of diet and childhood asthma.
Dr Devereux, explained: "As a chest doctor I am very aware of how increasingly common asthma is becoming and the impact this condition has on people's lives and the NHS. The National Asthma Campaign plays a leading role in increasing peoples' awareness of asthma, helping people with asthma and promoting the best possible care for people with asthma.
"The National Asthma Campaign actively supports research into the causes and treatment of asthma and ways to provide the best possible care for people with asthma. In Aberdeen, we have been very fortunate in recent years to receive generous financial support from the Campaign. This has enabled us to investigate the possible role of maternal diet during pregnancy in the development of asthma in children."
The National Asthma Campaign Scotland will be launching a new Asthma Charter for Scotland to help the 400,000 people currently struggling with the condition get a high enough standard of care. Your Asthma Charter is a ten-point check-list that tells people with asthma what they should expect from NHS Grampian in order to reduce the impact of their asthma so that they can enjoy a good quality of life.
Currently 1 in 15 adults in Scotland and 1 in 9 children have asthma - with an estimated 16,000 in Aberdeen, 38,000 in Edinburgh and 100,000 in Greater Glasgow.
Marjory O'Donnell, Director, National Asthma Campaign Scotland, said: "In global terms Scotland has a high number of people with asthma and it's a condition which not only affects the person who has it, but has a knock-on effect on families, carers of children with asthma and colleagues of people with asthma.
"The Asthma Charter aims to change things for the many thousands of people in Scotland who think that sleepless nights, difficulty climbing the stairs, days off work or school are normal. The Charter was written with input from people with asthma, medical specialists and includes the latest national guidelines from the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network 2003."