RIYADH: Asthma has assumed alarming proportions in Saudi Arabia with 20 percent of the Kingdom’s population in certain areas suffering from the illness.
“The rate of growth of this disease is very alarming with its prevalence exceeding 20 percent of our population in certain regions of the Kingdom,” said Dr. Majdy Mohammed Al-Idrees, chief of pulmonary medicine at Riyadh Military Hospital, while calling for an upbeat nationwide campaign against asthma.
Al-Idrees was speaking during a high-profile medical conference at the InterContinental Hotel.
Asked about the causes of asthma, Al-Idrees said pollutants discharged by automobiles and junk food could be behind the rapid rise of asthma and allergies among children. “It has become difficult to find even one family in Saudi Arabia with one or two members not suffering from an allergy or asthma. I would like to advise people to increase their awareness about the disease and take preventive measures,” Al-Idrees said, calling on people who start coughing or experience breathlessness to get immediate medical help.
He said asthma has been increasing during the last several years and that the Kingdom has invested heavily in infrastructure for a modern health care system in the past three to four decades.
The event saw the launch here of the pharmaceutical company SICOR Europe SA, which is a major player in the field of respiratory medicine with a worldwide presence.
More than 300 doctors and paramedical staff from different government and private hospitals of the Kingdom, including Tarek El-Mansy, SICOR country manager for Saudi Arabia, attended the launching ceremony.
The world map developed by the World Health Organization shows that more than 95 percent of the Saudi population has access to asthma medications. Nevertheless, it has been observed that many patients still use unconventional modalities during the course of their treatment.
According to the World Health 0rganization, there are at least 350 million people suffering from asthma worldwide and more than 180,000 people die from the illness each year.
