World Lung Day: urgent call for clean air and healthy lungs

Asunción, IP Agency.- The Ministry of Public Health reports that World Lung Day, which is commemorated this Wednesday, September 25, this year has the motto “Clean Air and Healthy Lungs for All”, which highlights the close relationship between air quality and health. pulmonary. Toxic air represents a universal threat, because it not only shortens lives, but also aggravates conditions such as asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases.

In accordance with this date, the Chair and Service of Pulmonology of the Faculty of Medical Sciences of the UNA, in San Lorenzo, provides care with scheduling of spirometry studies in patients who require it, with waived fees. Assistance can be requested via WhatsApp (Cel. 0991 870.012) or at the window of the Pulmonology Chair and Service (Second Floor, Hospital Block).

Likewise, the health portfolio carries out a series of training for health personnel, in order to help consumers quit tobacco. More than 60% of the world’s 1.25 billion adult tobacco users want to quit smoking, and between 40 and 50% try annually. However, only one in ten manages to remain tobacco-free without assistance.

With an alarming 99% of the world’s population exposed to pollution levels exceeding World Health Organization guidelines, toxic air represents a universal threat.

Every year, air pollution causes the tragic loss of 7 million lives, seriously affecting people’s health through diseases such as COPD, lung cancer and various respiratory infections.

In this context, the international community unites in a call to intensify efforts in the fight against air pollution, one of the main causes of global mortality and morbidity.

Within the framework of this commemoration, the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare, through the National Program for the Control of Smoking and Chronic Respiratory Diseases (PRONATERC), develops a week of training dedicated to the fight against smoking, with the support of the Pan American Health Organization, .

This workshop has the presence of Dr. Eduardo Bianco, a recognized expert on the subject, whose approach was key in the implementation of effective strategies for smoking cessation. Bianco, with an extensive international career, worked tirelessly to promote tobacco control policies.

The objective of the workshop, which takes place until September 26 at the Granados Park Hotel, is to train health professionals to acquire the necessary tools to offer brief smoking cessation interventions. This effort is part of a broader initiative to protect lung health and promote cleaner air for everyone.

It is worth mentioning that deaths and non-communicable diseases related to smoking can be significantly reduced in the short and medium term, if effective policies accompanied by supportive interventions are implemented.

The dependency that many consumers develop makes the cessation process difficult, and nearly 70% do not know where to seek help. There are cessation interventions and effective treatments that can make a difference, says the Ministry of Public Health.