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The awards ceremony of the first edition of the 'Breathing is Life Scholarship' was held together with Chiesi Spain

The 'Respirar es Vida Scholarship' rewards three associations for their sustainability and environmental projects, which promote the improvement of the quality of life of respiratory patients

 

The Chiesi biopharmaceutical company, with the support of the Lovexair Foundation, recognizes the projects of three patient associations in the first edition of the 'Respirar es Vida Scholarship', with prizes of €5.000, €3.000 and €2.000

Currently, asthma and COPD continue to be two of the most prevalent chronic respiratory diseases in Spain. For this reason, the objective of this Scholarship is to recognize initiatives on sustainability and the environment that contribute to improving the quality of life of patients suffering from respiratory diseases.

 

Chiesi Spain, the subsidiary of the international biopharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of innovative treatments with the mission of improving people's quality of life and the health of the planet, with the support of the Lovexair Foundation, announced last Thursday, January the three winning projects of the first edition of the 'Breathing is Life Scholarship, endowed with prizes of € 5.000, € 3.000 and € 2.000. The objective of this Scholarship is to recognize national, regional or local projects and initiatives that have a positive impact on the lives of patients suffering from respiratory diseases, as well as family members and caregivers, through the contribution to improving the the environment and the sustainability.

In the first edition of this Scholarship, the three winning applications have been: in first position, the 'Campaign to raise awareness about the management of waste generated in respiratory treatments', from the Madrid Cystic Fibrosis Association; secondly, the 'Nature Respiratory Physiotherapy Project', from the Association of Allergy and Respiratory Patients of Malaga – ALERMA; and in third position, the project 'How climate change and air pollution affect respiratory patients', from the Association of patients with COPD-APEPOC.

The jury of the first edition has had the assessment by the Dr Joan Escarabill, Member of the Patient Experience Evaluation Team at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona; Pablo Sanchez, Managing Director of BLab Spain; Shane Fitch, President of Lovexair and Elizabeth Portela, Coordinator of the Sleep and TRD Interest Group of the Nursing Area of ​​the Spanish Society of Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR). Isabel Portela, who together with Giuseppe Chiericatti, General Director of Chiesi Spain, have been the people in charge of delivering the prizes.

"Disclosure and communication about the best designed projects could empower and motivate other organizations and entities, young researchers for example, to start creating #innovative projects for the respiratory community and this is very important to move forward together marking improvement in our social action responsible especially in what is #PublicHealth. We appreciate the participation of the colleagues of the esteemed jury and all the candidates who responded to this initiative and of course we congratulate the winners.” Shane Fitch, CEO and President of Lovexair.

Today asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are still two of the most prevalent chronic respiratory diseases In our country. While asthma affects around 5% of adults and up to 10% of the child population1, COPD affects 11% of Spaniards between the ages of 40 and 80, causing some 18.000 deaths per year throughout the country2. Due to the persistence of symptoms, people living with respiratory diseases suffer a negative impact on their lives and their productivity at work is affected, as well as their daily activities.

Chiesi, as a company committed to people's health and sustainability, promotes actions with the aim of contributing to improving the quality of life of patients. In this sense, the launch of the first Breathing is Life Scholarship, reaffirms its commitment to the well-being of people and to the protection and preservation of the environment. "As a B Corp company, at Chiesi we are very satisfied to be able to carry out this Scholarship which, from our vision of shared value and promotion of sustainability, rewards the innovation of new forms of accompaniment for patients with respiratory diseases", he affirms. Giuseppe Chiericatti, CEO of Chiesi. “We have received applications with very interesting projects, which motivates us to continue advancing in purposeful initiatives that have a positive impact on the lives of people, society, and the planet.”

The Madrid Cystic Fibrosis Association, thank Chiesi for "having deemed our project to raise awareness about the management of waste generated in respiratory treatments deserving of the first prize of the Breathing is Life Scholarship." Fernando Moreno, president of the entity, adds that "with this campaign we intend to sensitize all patients with respiratory diseases of the need to carry out an adequate recycling of all the waste products generated in the daily treatment, so that with their gesture they help to improve care for the environment, reduce pollution and improve the quality of the air we breathe, aspects that play a fundamental role in the health of all citizens and especially in people with respiratory diseases. This initiative is one more step in the environmental policy that the Madrid Cystic Fibrosis Association has been applying in recent years that reinforces our commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals and the different international agreements for environmental protection.”

 

Sustainability and respiratory health

During the awards ceremony, a debate was held on the impact that the environment has on the quality of life of respiratory patients and on the evolution of their disease. Mariano Pastor, President of FENAER; Julia González, Member of the Sevilla Respira Patient Association; Cristina Martínez, Coordinator of the EROM Group of SEPAR; Javier Montoro, Coordinator of the SEAIC Working Group on Allergy on the Environment, Pollution and Climate Change; Jesús Molina, Coordinator of the respiratory diseases group at semFYC and Dolors Querol, Director of Medical and Technical Affairs at Chiesi Spain.

Likewise, the meeting has had the intervention of Giuseppe Chiericatti, General Director of Chiesi Spain; Carmen Basolas, Director of Institutional Relations and Sustainability; Shane Fitch, CEO & Founder of the Lovexair Foundation. The event has been presented by the meteorologist Mercedes Martín.

 

breathing is life

Through the program breathing is life, Chiesi and the Lovexair Foundation They carry out training actions to improve the quality of life of people with respiratory pathologies. Since 2013, Respirar es Vida contributes to the knowledge and awareness of the population about asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), two of the most prevalent respiratory diseases. Breathing is life offers practical, reliable and quality information from experts in the field. The activities carried out within the framework of the Breathe is Life Program they are aimed at people with asthma and COPD, family and friends, as well as the press and health professionals.