One in Ten Canadian Children Afflicted with Asthma

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One in Ten Canadian Children Afflicted with Asthma

By Joan Delaney

Epoch Times Staff Feb 02, 2006

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/6-2-2/37667.html

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High-res image (1227 x 825 px, 300 dpi) The occurrence of childhood

asthma in Canada has risen fourfold in the last 20 years, reaching a

level where one in ten children is now affected by the respiratory

ailment, a new report says.

The report, which calls asthma " one of the most chronic conditions

in Canadian children, " explores the link between asthma and

pollution and says that about 20 percent of boys and 15 percent of

girls aged between eight and 11 have been diagnosed with the

disease.

" The air children breathe is an important source of exposure to

substances that may potentially harm their health, " said the report,

which was undertaken by the Commission for Environmental Co-

operation (CEC), a Montreal-based group created as part of the North

American Free Trade Agreement.

" Exposures in early childhood when the lungs and immune systems are

not fully developed raise concerns that children may respond more

adversely than adults would. "

While asthma can be caused by hereditary factors, the CEC lays most

of the blame for the epidemic on both indoor and outdoor pollutants.

Exposure to indoor toxins such as moulds, smoke, fumes from plastics

and chemicals, dust mites and animal dander can trigger the

condition. Two factors mentioned in particular are smoke from wood

or coal fires and second-hand tobacco smoke. While the latter is

less of a problem than in the past, said the study, it remains a

cause for concern.

Rick , executive director of the environmental watchdog group

Environmental Defense, says most of the pollutants spewed into the

air are associated with respiratory illness, and that the Great

Lakes area with its concentrated population and coal-fired power

plants is especially in need of attention.

" We now see smog and taste smog at all times of the year in many

cities and towns right across the country, " says . " The fact is

that within a few years, Canada went from an environmental leader to

an environmental laggard. The OECD, which is hardly known as a

radical environmental organisation, ranks Canada at the bottom of

the barrel amongst industrialised countries for pollution

prevention. "

says that when parliament resumes, one of the new government's

first items to look at will be pollution, as the mandatory review of

Canada's Environmental Protection Act is due this year. He says that

although the Conservatives didn't have pollution as one of their top

five priorities during the election, it was a part of their

platform, so he expects there may be some progress.

" The Conservatives did actually make some promises on pollution.

They promised some action on clean water and clean air and Great

Lakes protection...so we're certainly hoping that they'll follow

through in a timely way. "

Symptoms of asthma include wheezing, coughing and trouble breathing

due to obstructed air passages. CEC said the illness " represents a

tremendous human and economic burden for millions of children and

adults in North America, " and also found that asthma can be more

common in certain groups, especially in children living in southern

Ontario and those from lower-income, inner-city populations.

Professor Ungar, a researcher at Toronto's Hospital for Sick

Children, says that a study she was involved with found that many

families can't afford the often very expensive treatments that can

effectively control the illness. Ungar points out that while Quebec

has a universal health plan which covers the cost of drugs, people

who live in most other provinces need to have some kind of insurance

plan lest they " fall through the cracks. "

" We found that about 15 percent of the children we studied with

asthma had no drug insurance whatsoever, so they had to pay out of

pocket, which can be very expensive, " says Ungar. " As a result, they

didn't get all the medications they needed, or parents were making

undesirable choices such as choosing an inhaler based on price

rather than how useful it is for the child's asthma. "

Ungar's 2001 study found that the direct costs on average for asthma

treatment was $1,220 per child per year. For asthmatics under four,

an age group who Ungar says need to use the healthcare system more,

it costs about $1,400 per year. On top of that there are indirect

costs, such as when a parent has to miss work to care for their

child.

" Now there are more children with asthma, and that means that the

overall economic burden on the entire population is greater.

Certainly this is an increasing burden on the healthcare system, "

says Ungar.

The CEC report, which included the U.S. and Mexico as well as

Canada, said that while rates of lead contamination and water-

related illnesses have declined in recent years, asthma is now much

more prevalent in all three countries. An estimated 2.5 million

Canadians affected by the condition, including 12 percent of

children and eight percent of adults. Outdoor air that is polluted

with particulate matter, ground level ozone, carbon monoxide and

lead, among others, is the main offender for asthmatics.

The report recommends better efforts on the part of governments,

parents, schools and workplaces to reduce pollutants and improve air

quality.