Smoking-related lung disease rises

18/12/2006 -- 4:49 PM

HCM City (VNA) -- About three million people in Viet Nam suffer from Complex Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), a condition causing deterioration of lung function and breathlessness, but most remain unaware of this silent killer. The disease, caused by smoking in 90 percent of patients, causes excess air to be trapped in the lungs after a person has fully exhaled, and can lead to severe disability. Viet Nam has the highest percentage of COPD patients in the Asia-Pacific region, up to 6.7 percent of the population, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). At a seminar on global strategies to fight COPD held in Ho Chi Minh City on Dec. 16, Dr. Le Thi Tuyet Lan of the city-based University of Medicine and Pharmaceuticals, said a large proportion of people in the country remained ignorant of the disease. It is on the rise in Viet Nam because of worsening air pollution and high smoking rates. The Ministry of Health said 2 percent of people over 40 in Ha Noi's inner districts and 5 percent in outlying districts suffered from COPD. HCM City's Cho Ray Hospital received 80 to 90 patients a day. Lan said treatment for the 3 million COPD patients in the country would cost 9 trillion VND (559 million USD) per year. The seminar, organised by the Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital and Boehringer Ingelheim Viet Nam, also discussed the latest treatments for the disease.-Enditem
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