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JEDDAH — The Saudi Society for Children with Chest Diseases on Saturday launched a massive campaign in three major cities to increase the awareness about asthma.
The society launched its simultaneous campaigns in Riyadh, Jeddah and Al-Khobar.
The society warned against the perils of asthma, which increased by about 300 percent in the recent years to reach 1.5 million patients whose treatment is annually costing the country about SR2 billion.
Dr. Saleh Al-Harbe, the society’s deputy chairman, has said about 100 volunteers from the medical sector are participating in the campaign, which is aimed at enlightening the citizens and expatriates about the hazards of the disease for their children and the latest methods of treatment.
He said the campaign was also aimed at explaining the causes of the disease, the latest methods of treatment and how to manage it.
Harbe said asthma was the main cause of many other diseases in children. It also prevents them from going to school and they often needed to be admitted to hospital.
“The repercussions of the disease surpass the health aspects and extend to other social and economic impacts,” he warned.
The society said about 80,000 people die every year of asthma worldwide and children constitute about 70 percent of them. It added that there were about 300 million asthma patients in the world at present.
It said the spread of asthma among schoolchildren in the Kingdom ranged from 4 to 23 percent.
