Prevention of allergy and asthma: interim report

The prevalence of asthma and allergy is increasing. It is estimated that over 40% of the world population is atopic. Asthma occurs in around 10-15% in the paediatric population and is estimated to affect between 100 and 150 million people worldwide, placing an enormous strain on health resources in many countries. Asthma is a major cause of hospitalisations for chronic diseases in children in the western world. A strategy is needed to prevent this increased prevalence of allergy, which is a major cause of asthma (often labelled as a ``non-infectious epidemic''). Over 2 years ago IAACI recognised the need for a global organisation taking responsibility for exchange of science and education in allergy. The name of the Association will be changed to World Allergy Organisation (WAO) after the IAACI Congress in Sydney in October 2000. Since chronic respiratory disease (including asthma) will be one of four major noncommunicable diseases of immediate focus for WHO, WHO invited IAACI-WAO to participate in this collaborative project. WHO/IAACI-WAO created a working group consisting of six ``Chapter Chairpersons'', each with coauthors and a meeting of the group took place on 5 and 6 December 1999 in WHO head

Does Living Density Matter for Nonfatal Unintentional Home Injury in Asian Urban Settings? Evidence from Hong Kong

Injury is a major global disease burden for the twenty-first century. There are, however, few studies of unintentional household injury in Asian urban settings where living environments are characterized by extremely compact, high-living-density, multistory apartments. This study investigated the association between nonfatal unintentional household injuries with the resident’s sociodemographic attributes and household characteristics in Hong Kong, the city with the world’s highest population density. A cross-sectional retrospective recall study was conducted in May 2007 using a random telephone survey with a modified Chinese version of the World Health Organization Injury and Violence instrument. The study sample included 1,001 noninstitutionalized Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents of all ages, including foreign live-in domestic helpers. Multivariate regression was conducted to identify risk factors for nonfatal unintentional injuries in Hong Kong. Among a predominantly adult sample, household size and time spent at home were not associated with nonfatal unintentional household injuries in the general population in Hong Kong. The multivariate analyses indicated that female gender, owners of private homes, lower square footage of living space per person, and those with slip prevention devices in the bathroom were significantly associated with household injuries. Injured and noninjured groups were found to have adopted different injury prevention strategies toward household injuries. The results identified potential target groups for household injury prevention programs