Aims to educate consumers about Asthma and help people manage their Asthma symptoms better

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, has launched a strong campaign to increase awareness around asthma and associated respiratory issues, especially amongst children. The multichannel initiatives across social media and on-ground initiatives intents to bridge the alarming gap in knowledge around managing asthma, risks of asthma attacks and its triggers associated with indoor pollution. 

With an estimated 15-20 million of the total Indian population suffering from asthma, the allergy and asthma sufferers are looking for ways to ease the symptoms by reducing indoor air-borne pollutants. It has been observed that asthma is prevalent in roughly 10-15% of children aged between 5-11 years old. The strongest risk factors for developing asthma are exposure, especially in infancy, to indoor pollutants (such as house dust mites in bedding, carpets and stuffed furniture, cats and cockroaches, PM2.5 and pollen) and a family history of asthma or allergy.

The initiative will witness Philips organizing live demonstrations across 100 consumer electronics and appliances stores in the country, reaching out to respiratory patients and parents of young kids to spread awareness around health impacts of indoor air pollution, and how air purifiers help in combating asthma triggers. Philips is also running a campaign tilted ‘‘Help your child Fight against Asthma” across its social media handles including, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google Display Network. In addition to this, Philips is also distributing leaflets in catchment areas to spread awareness around Asthma and its prevention.

Expressing his concern, Dr. Himanshu Garg, Head Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine, W Pratiksha Hospital said, “Cases of Asthma and other respiratory allergies are on the rise. With poor air quality and rising air pollution, our purpose is to reduce the number of people suffering from asthma with proper diagnosis and treatment. Managing our indoor environment by reducing the triggers are also needed to preventing frequent attacks”

Commenting on the launch, Mr Gulbahar Taurani, President, Philips Personal Health for Philips India Sub-continent said, “At Philips, we are constantly looking for new opportunities to improve peoples’ lives through meaningful innovations. With the growing concern around the increasing number of asthma patients and growing hypersensitivity towards various harmful pollutants present indoors, our endeavour is to bring in highly advanced technology that truly makes a difference to the lives of our customers. We believe that combating Asthma starts at home, and prevention is the key. This campaign is in line with our endeavour to spread awareness to reduce asthma triggers at home and provide effective solutions to consumers to manage their Asthma symptoms better.”

Philips India, with its background in Health Technology and through its initiatives around key health issues, is consciously raising awareness about asthma, the existence of hazardous indoor air pollutants and the role of air purifiers to combat these harmful pollutants.