JEDDAH, 30 April — More than one million people in Saudi Arabia suffer from asthma, about 13 percent of the population.
It is against this background that the National Scientific Committee on Bronchial Asthma is organizing a series of events at shopping malls and hospitals in Riyadh and Jeddah throughout May.
At each event, asthma sufferers can receive free advice on their condition from a leading specialist in respiratory medicine. The series of events is organized as part of World Asthma Day on May 7.
In some areas of the Kingdom, the proportion of sufferers is said to be particularly high. For instance, in Qasim about 40 percent of the local population has asthma, according to the committee.
Pollution, smoking, pollen, house dust mites and climate are significant causes of asthma, but recent research has shown that increasing consumption of junk food by children in the Kingdom may also be partly responsible for its steady rise here.
Coinciding with the World Day, a new asthma treatment is being introduced in the Kingdom by a leading pharmaceutical company.
Already introduced in Europe and the United States, the treatment comes in an inhaler and combines two medicines that work together to provide long-lasting relief of symptoms and reduce inflammation of the lining of the airways, its manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline stated.
