One million asthmatics in Belgium

About 1 million people suffer from asthma in Belgium, including 200,000 children, making Belgium one of the worst countries in Europe for the disease, according to a press conference by the Belgian Society of Pneumology. The Society is calling for more specialised centres for asthma patients.

Ten percent of Belgians between 18 and 44 years old have asthma, and 5% of these suffer from a severe form. Although treatment of the disease has improved greatly in recent years and the number of hospitalisations in Europe has gone down, the number of asthma patients in Belgium has only gone up.

While there is no clear-cut explanation for the increase, poor air quality may be partially to blame for the problem, as Belgium is very densely populated and has a lot of ports and industry close to busy cities.