WORLD ASTHMA DAY 2007 - HOW TO SPREAD THE WORD THAT “YOU CAN CONTROL YOUR ASTHMA” Education…. Hold a public open day or a free-of-charge asthma screening clinic at your local hospital or surgery—secure sponsorship from a newspaper or pharmaceutical company. · Stage a meeting of general practitioners and other health professionals to update on latest knowledge in prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Discuss implementation of GINA guidelines. Produce a radio advertisement highlighting World Asthma Day, the meaning of asthma control, and strategies to improve control. Organize debates about local issues affecting asthma control—e.g., pollution, smoking, access to asthma care and medication. Organize a diagnosis, education, and treatment bus tour to reach remote areas—or arrange a special bus service bringing patients to the clinics. Organize a hike for people with asthma and their friends, led by a health care provider who can educate the group about managing asthma in an outdoor environment. Arrange school visits on or prior to World Asthma Day—educate children about asthma and offer on-the-spot peak flow meter testing. These activities could be combined with plays, concerts, or poetry competitions highlighting the concept of asthma control. · Set up a display of asthma information, treatments, and the definition of control in your surgery or hospital. · Host a panel discussion at a group for parents and teachers in which two or three parents of children with asthma discuss their experiences with asthma control. Invite a local pediatric asthma specialist to be part of the discussion. Launch a Website offering educational information and advice—include details of regular asthma clinics. Set up a telephone helpline for patients and the public, with free calls if possible to maximize access for all. Make learning about asthma control fun by creating games for children that will educate them about asthma control, or invite physicians to compete in a quiz about GINA's recommendations for asthma control. Profile raising…. Publicize World Asthma Day with posters, billboards, stickers or ribbons. Alert your local and national media of the date and theme for World Asthma Day, the latest information about the burden of asthma in your region, and the meaning of asthma control. Arrange a photocall for journalists around those activities with a strong visual element. Encourage participants from all walks of life to highlight the wide variety of people who experience the burden of asthma and who live active lives with their asthma under control. Carry out a survey of the level of asthma control among people in your country or local area. Create a Website about your campaign. Contact politicians and celebrities with asthma to support your cause. Locate people with asthma who could help you tell your story to the media. If you produce a newsletter, write an article on the activities you are staging for World Asthma Day 2007. Develop partnerships to promote increased awareness of asthma as a major public health problem and increased understanding of the concept of asthma control. Encourage members of the public to participate in a World Asthma Day ‘Drawing Breath’ competition—how might breath look if you could see it? The judging and award presentation could become an event that may attract media attention. Encourage people with asthma or health professionals to write to their health ministers, stressing the importance of World Asthma Day, lobbying for asthma to be made a national priority disease, and suggesting steps the government could take to help more people control their asthma. Present an award to smoke- and allergen-free establishments. Plan a reception for celebrities with asthma and ordinary members of the public with asthma —invite health ministers to attend. Organize day trips to a clean-air environment for city-dwelling asthma patients. Fundraising…. Hold a World Asthma Day sponsored walk, run, swim, or soccer match. Invite well-known athletes from the area to take part alongside asthma patients from all walks of life. Hold a World Asthma Day talent show or musical concert with performances from local asthma patients. Highlight woodwind and brass instruments. To encourage news stories, select a concert title linked to asthma and/or the World Asthma Day theme, or invite celebrity musicians with asthma to participate. Hold a bake sale/coffee morning. Organize a car-free or quit-smoking day. Suggest an asthma Question & Answer page or session to your national newspaper or radio station. Stage a public poetry competition, inviting poems on asthma and asthma control, and publish a book of the top 20. The judging and presentation of awards could also provide an opportunity for media exposure. Organize an exhibition of pictures on the theme of asthma control. |