Did you spot the campaign this month named #AskAboutAsthma? It’s all about childhood asthma. The aim of the campaign is for children with asthma to experience no symptoms. Partly this is about better management of the condition, but an innovative element is encouraging children and their carers to avoid air pollution.
An amazing 1.1 million children in the UK are receiving treatment for asthma (according to the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, who have today put out a position statement on this), so we assume there are many more undiagnosed cases. This is a terrible situation, considering everything from the risk of death to children such as Ella Kissi-Debrah suffering from severe asthma, to huge numbers of children having their daily lives curtailed.
Still No to NO2
As nitrogen dioxide exposure is likely to lead to childhood asthma, as well as make symptoms worse, we thought we would look at the latest levels at our Brixton node. Unfortunately, pollution levels tend to get worse heading into winter so now is the time to be extra vigilant. You may remember, the node breached the WHO annual limits by 10 January this year, earning us a front page in the Brixton Bugle. This time we thought we’d use the Breathe London official site, which presents things a bit differently:
We’ve also been getting more aware of adult-onset asthma. This is a now familiar story from the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, of his asthma as a result of exposure on city streets while training for a marathon. Louise had her own scare over the past nine months - last winter being unable to breathe properly and so being taken through the asthma diagnosis process. Luckily, six months later, the doctors concluded it was not asthma (must have been “just” a virus) but it gave her a real insight into both how scary the symptoms can be and the pathway through the health system. Supporting a child through both of those would be so much harder.
Luckily it doesn’t need to be this way. The expansion of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone is estimated to reduce new asthma cases by over 1300 a year, according to Trilateral Research. Friend of this blog, Ruaraidh Dobson, undertook this groundbreaking work, which we think should get more attention! Asthma and Lung UK have also highlighted the impact on hospital admissions as a result of this policy. They have been turning up in school playgrounds to raise awareness.
All over the socials
Our sister organisation / alter ego Air Aware Labs has been increasing its social media presence. Please follow our Instagram, Facebook and wherever else you spot us ;)