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Barcelona Welcomes the 'Healthy Cities, for the Improvement of Childhood Asthma' Initiative

The objective of the campaign is to raise awareness about the importance of good respiratory health habits, as well as the correct diagnosis and control of asthma in children through workshops

Asthma is the most frequent chronic disease in children, the one that induces more hospitalizations and more days of school lost. Faced with this situation, non-profit third-sector entities, scientific societies, public institutions and the private sector have joined forces for the first time in the joint initiative 'Healthy Cities, for the improvement of childhood asthma' to promote good respiratory health habits and improve control of childhood asthma.

 

Within the framework of World Asthma Day, today this project promoted by the Roger Torné Foundation and the Lovexair Foundation, and which has the endorsement of the Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatrics (AEPap), was presented at Barcelona City Hall. the Spanish Society of Clinical Immunology, Allergology and Pediatric Asthma (SEICAP), the Spanish Pediatric Pneumology Society (SENP) and the Foundation for Health Education (FUNDADEPS), as well as with the support of the Barcelona City Council, the Department of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Consell Consultiu de Pacients de Catalunya, and the collaboration of Novartis.

 

In the words of Soledad Román, General Director of the Fundació Roger Torné, “this initiative has been possible thanks to the union of non-profit entities, scientific societies, public institutions and the private sector. Because childhood asthma is a disease that cannot be controlled solely from the health field, but must have a social and joint approach”.

 

For his part, Joan Guix i Oliver, Secretary of Public Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya, has pointed out that this body "is fully committed to promoting children's health, acting on the environment and on children and their families", as that “it is key to act both on the person (through health education) and on the environment. That is why the collaboration of the administration with civil society is essential”.

 

During the presentation act, Soledad Román, General Director of the Fundació Roger Torné;

The 'Healthy Cities, for the improvement of childhood asthma' initiative has set itself the goal of firstly raising families' awareness of the need to be actively involved in the respiratory health of children. Second, improve control of childhood asthma to ensure good respiratory health in adults. And lastly, bring asthma awareness to the educational field and involve teachers in promoting healthy breathing habits among children. According to Román, "for a good control of childhood asthma it is of vital importance that both families and the educational environment have rigorous and useful information that allows them to have a better understanding of the disease."

For its part, Fitch has commented "We understand training and education as the best way to learn the guidelines that will allow us to better prevent and control the consequences of asthma and, in general, our lung health."

 

Under the name of 'Barcelona Respira', the campaign is launched in Barcelona where on May 7, at the CEM Olímpics in Vall d'Hebrón from 11.00:14.30 a.m. to XNUMX:XNUMX p.m., a conference will be held awareness raising for families in which fathers, mothers and children will be able to participate in a fun educational event with didactic workshops with basic and fundamental concepts about asthma, gymkhanas of children's activities to reinforce the control of the pathology through self-care . "This is a fun day where children will learn how to better manage asthma through play," Fitch said.

 

In this way, within the framework of the campaign, educational play days will be developed, aimed at families; school workshops, to provide teachers with the necessary tools to promote greater knowledge of respiratory health and asthma at school; and the web platform http://mejorandoelasmainfantil.com/, which contains general information on the project, materials and downloadable materials on childhood asthma and respiratory health, both for the general population and for teacher training. In addition, the entire campaign can also be followed through the Twitter account @asmainfantil and the hashtag #asmainfantil.

The campaign has managed to bring together scientific societies from different specialties and care levels that have collaborated closely in the preparation of materials and workshops. In the words of Dr. Valdesoiro, “these initiatives will improve the knowledge of the disease by teachers, parents and children, as well as its dissemination, to reach the same goal, the control of the disease, through a correct diagnosis. The late diagnosis of the disease sometimes makes its treatment difficult and evokes early airway remodeling that leads to an asthmatic adult”.