Boehringer Ingelheim’s 4th Regional Respiratory Expert Forum brought together international and regional experts to highlight unmet needs of these diseases as a key challenge preventing effective treatment.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) affects as many as 14-43 people per 100,000 population worldwide.7 Limited availability of the prevalence rates for Middle East and North Africa has been highlighted as a major challenge.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, April 12, 2015:Boehringer Ingelheim, a leading pharmaceutical company, organized the 4th Regional Respiratory Expert Forum, to highlight the unmet challenges in the management of chronic respiratory diseases like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in the Middle East and North Africa region. Chronic respiratory diseases affect millions of people in the region and with effective treatment; the complications and suffering can be controlled. Held at Istanbul- Turkey between 10-12 April, the forum saw renowned international and regional experts come together to highlight late diagnosis and misdiagnosis as the key challenges towards controlling the prevalence, encouraging accurate awareness on each of the condition aiming to provide to accurate diagnosis and improving patients outcomes through effective treatment.
COPD is a common lung disease in which there is a progressive narrowing of the airways, leading to breathing difficulties. It is the 4th leading cause of death worldwide and further increases in its prevalence and mortality are expected in the coming decades, being the third cause of death in the world by 2030.5 In the MENA region, around 49.5% of the total population affected by COPD remains untreated and 47.5% experience lung attack, a state of disease flare-up or exacerbation when the symptoms quickly get worse.8 Heavy economic and social burden of COPD and asthma is noticed due to late diagnosis. In UAE, the total direct cost of treating 139,092 asthma patients was estimated to be AED 105 Million (USD 29 Million) in Abu Dhabi as compared to AED 88 Million (USD 24 Million) in Dubai. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a rare, debilitating and fatal lung disease with high mortality affecting patients over the age of 50 and more men than women.9 It causes permanent scarring of the lungs, difficulty in breathing and decreases the amount of oxygen the lungs can supply to the major organs of the body. Approximately half of the patients die within 2-3 years after diagnosis.
The forum saw participation from over 100 leading regional and international experts who engaged in lectures, panel discussions and interactive sessions to bring forth the latest scientific advances in the treatment and management of these respiratory diseases. While highlighting solutions towards managing the unmet needs, the experts encouraged early identification of the symptoms accurately and adherence to treatment for patients as the most important measures toward controlling prevalence.
Prevalence of asthma in North Africa: the Asthma Insights and Reality in the Maghreb (AIRMAG) study. Nafti S1, Taright S, El Ftouh M, Yassine N, Benkheder A, Bouacha H, Fakhfakh H, Ali-Khoudja M, Texier N, El Hasnaoui A.
Mahboub BH, Al-Hammadi S, Rafique M, et al. Population prevalence of asthma and its determinants based on European Community Respiratory Health Survey in the United Arab Emirates. BMC Pulm Med. 2012;12:4.