By MONICA MAYUNI,Zambia, Lusaka
A SENIOR World Health Organization (WHO) official has called for urgent global action to close the gap between asthma treatment and access, warning that millions of people continue to suffer needlessly despite the availability of effective medicine.
Speaking at a World Asthma Day event hosted on Tuesday by the International Respiratory Coalition ( IRC) in Brussels, Dr José Luis Castro, WHO Director-General’s Special Envoy for Chronic Respiratory Diseases, said the world already has the tools and scientific knowledge to manage asthma, but health systems are failing to deliver care consistently at scale.
Marking the day under the theme “Access to anti-inflammatory inhalers for everyone, still an urgent need,” Dr Castro emphasized that life-saving treatment remains out of reach for many patients.
“We have the science. We have the medicine. Yet, for too many, the distance between a life-saving treatment and the patient’s hand remains far too great,” he said.
He pointed to a growing disconnect between global commitments and real-world implementation, noting that while WHO Member States had adopted a landmark resolution on integrated lung health, its impact would depend on action at national and local levels.
“A resolution passed in Geneva means nothing if it isn’t practiced in Brussels and everywhere else,” he said.
Dr Castro highlighted findings from WHO analyses showing that millions of asthma cases remain undiagnosed or poorly controlled, not due to lack of knowledge but because of weak health systems. He cited limited access to inhaled corticosteroids, delayed diagnosis, and preventable hospital admissions as key indicators of systemic failure.
He urged governments to shift focus toward prevention and early detection, including routine lung function testing in primary care, while also addressing environmental and commercial drivers of respiratory disease.
Air pollution, he said, remains a major contributor to respiratory illness, while the tobacco industry continues to adapt its marketing strategies, particularly through digital platforms targeting younger populations.
“This is not innovation. It is the marketing of addiction,” he warned.
Drawing on past public health successes, Dr Castro noted that global attitudes toward smoking had changed through sustained policy action, suggesting similar determination could reduce the burden of respiratory diseases.
To accelerate progress, he outlined three time-bound priorities: ensuring universal access to essential asthma medicines within one year, integrating lung health services into primary care within two years, and achieving measurable reductions in uncontrolled asthma and avoidable hospitalizations within five years.
“These are not abstract goals. They are achievable and they are necessary,” he said.
In a personal reflection, Dr Castro revealed he lives with asthma, describing the fear and helplessness of struggling to breathe. He said the condition not only affects physical health but also strips individuals of dignity, particularly children who may become defined by their illness.
Closing his remarks, he urged stakeholders to move beyond commitments and deliver tangible results.
“Our success will not be measured by the resolutions we pass, but by something far simpler: the quiet, steady, unobstructed breathing of the people we serve,” he said.
