World Asthma Day 2026 : press release
Asthma is chronic airway inflammatory disease affecting up to 10% of the general population in Western Europe. Around one in ten Belgian citizens currently lives with asthma, including more than 400,000 children.
Typical presentation of asthma involves symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing, chest tightness and cough, variable overtime and in intensity, associated with reversible expiratory airflow obstruction. These variations are often triggered by allergens, exercise, air pollutants, extreme temperatures or viral infections. Asthma attacks involve obstruction of the air passages in the lungs which reduces the ability of the person to inhale oxygen into the body. The airway obstruction is caused by spasms and the tightening of the airway muscles, and inflammation which causes both swelling of the walls of the air passages and mucus locking the airways. Symptoms and airflow limitation may be resolved spontaneously or in response to medication and may sometimes be absent for weeks or months. Conversely, episodic severe and potentially life-threatening attacks can occur, allowing Emergency Department admissions and hospitalizations with significant socio-economic burdens on patients and community.
The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) was launched to provide an evidence‑based global strategy on asthma prevention and management and to support national guidelines with the goal to achieve the best possible long-term outcomes for each patient. This includes good symptom control (few/no asthma symptoms, no sleep disturbance due to asthma, and unimpaired physical activities) with minimized risk of asthma-related mortality, hospitalizations, and side-effects of treatment. Inhaled corticosteroid-containing medications are essential for treating and controlling asthma. GINA guidelines propose well defined algorithms of treatment for the management of asthma that should be implemented worldwide despite different national policies. People with asthma need training to manage it well, including avoidance of triggers, monitoring of symptoms, correct use of inhaler devices and self-management of asthma attacks.
World Asthma Day (first Tuesday in May) is a remarkably successful GINA initiative in raising awareness and disseminating asthma information worldwide. This year the Belgian Respiratory Society (BeRS) in partnership with the International Respiratory Coalition (IRC) organize the “World Asthma Day: National respiratory strategies in action” event on Tuesday 5th May from 6 PM until 9.30 PM to the Vaudeville Theatre (city center of Brussels – near Central Station). Healthcare providers, researchers, policymakers and patient representatives are invited to explore best practices and future policy directions to optimize the management of asthma.
In the first part of the program, an update of GINA guidelines will be provided followed by discussion of best practices in asthma policy based on the Swedish model of asthma population register and the Belgian example of effective use of medicines in asthma legislation. The effects of air pollutants on asthma, a very hot topic of the moment, will be discussed to close the meeting.
Data from Sciensano shows that hospital admissions for asthma rise by up to 20% on days with high concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NO₂). In many Belgian cities, these levels remain above the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations. This is because the current Belgian and European air quality standards are still higher than the recently tightened recommendations of the WHO . The WHO recommends limiting the annual average value for PM2.5 to 5 µg/m³, whilst many Belgian cities still record levels between 10 and 15 µg/m³. As the number of people with asthma in Belgium continue to rise and air pollutants are recognized triggers for asthma attacks and symptoms, a “national respiratory strategy for chronic respiratory diseases” including actions to improve air quality” is mandatory. These actions should include concrete measures to reduce traffic emissions, increased monitoring in schools and urban areas as well as greater efforts to respect standards of air quality.
In addition to this event, several medical and paramedical teams will organize local activities in different clinics across Belgium (e.g. Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels; AZ Maria Middelares, Gent, on 5/5/2026 and Centre Hospitalier EpiCURA de Baudour, Saint-Ghislain, on 5/5/2026) to improve knowledge on asthma and perform lung function testing for screening.
We hope that these events will be successful and a step forward in improving asthma prevention and management.