The consequences that include the effects of climate change on people’s health open up a range of areas to be faced that is becoming more and more extensive. In this sense, respiratory diseases are one of the challenges that society faces due to the impact of air pollution or increased extreme temperatures.
For these reasons, the fifth ‘Greentalks’ meeting, organized by Muy Interesting and Gaceta Médica , focuses on climate change and respiratory diseases.
The virtual debate, which has the support of Fundamed and GSK , will be held at 12:30 in the morning, next Tuesday, June 8. The meeting will be broadcast online , through Muy Interesante’s Twitter account, and on YouTube.
This fifth meeting will put special interest in addressing asthma , a disease that affects some 300 million people, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, 18 percent of asthmatic patients in Western Europe suffer from severe asthma and half of them lack adequate control, according to data from the Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (SEPAR).
In Spain, in economic terms, severe asthma represents 50 percent of the total expenditure on asthma treatment and represents an annual incremental healthcare cost per patient of 11,703 euros, in the worst cases.
In this context, the increase in temperatures can also cause an increase in ozone levels and other air pollutants, as well as the levels of pollen or other allergens that can trigger an increase in the burden of respiratory diseases.
Atmospheric pollution
On the other hand, air pollution is an element that is under the scrutiny of the European and national authorities, since it increases the risk of suffering from acute respiratory diseases, such as pneumonia, and other chronic diseases, such as lung cancer or cardiovascular diseases.
Around 30,000 people died in Spain from air pollution in 2019 , according to an air quality report by the conservation NGO Ecologistas en Acción. This document also indicates that 94% of the population continued to breathe polluted air with levels higher than those recommended by the WHO. In this line, data from the European Environment Agency coincide, which estimates that around 90% of the European population lives in areas where air quality limit values are exceeded or the health protection guidelines established by WHO . In this sense, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and suspended particles are the three pollutants with the greatest negative impact on health.
In fact, air pollution represents in Spain one of the main concerns in environmental and health terms, according to the ‘I Barometer of perception of air quality’ of the Ecodes Foundation.
In this context, the conference will address the different views of multidisciplinary experts and patients to face the challenges related to respiratory health. For this, the fifth Greentalks has the participation of Dolors Montserrat, spokesperson for the Popular Group in the European Parliament, Ana Pastor, second vice president of the Congress of Deputies and member of the Health and Consumer Commission, Francisco Álvarez, Pulmonologist of the University Hospital Virgen del Rocío de Sevilla, Boi Ruiz, director of the UIC Patient Institute and Guillermo de Juan, vice president and director of Institutional Relations and Communication of GSK Spain.
