St. Francis doctor
to join online chat
on asthma

Tomorrow's session kicks off
events meant to spread information
on respiratory illness

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Star-Bulletin staff

Dr. Danilo Ablan will host a live online chat on asthma from 5 to 6 p.m. tomorrow in support of the American Lung Association's Breathe Easy Month in May.

A "World Asthma Day Concert and Sign Waving" event also will be sponsored by the association from noon to 1 p.m. Thursday at Tamarind Park in downtown Honolulu.

To join Ablan's free chat, log on to www.stfrancishawaii.org or www.americasdoctor.com. Ablan specializes in pulmonary disease and critical-care medicine in the St. Francis Healthcare System. Breathe Easy Month was conceived to raise awareness about lung diseases such as asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

Ablan will focus on asthma, the leading serious chronic illness among children.

Activities at Tamarind Park will include a free outdoor concert, sign waving, asthma literature, games and prizes.

Various volunteer and health agencies will be present to promote asthma awareness and rally community support for the thousands of residents affected by asthma.

A National Asthma Research Center Progress Report 2000 found:

>> More than 17.7 million Americans have asthma; more than one-third are children under age 18. The percentage of people afflicted with asthma has increased dramatically in the last 20 years.

>> Asthma costs about $8.1 billion a year for health care. Indirect costs such as lost productivity account for another $4.6 billion. An estimated 3 million workdays are lost to asthma annually.

>> Only about one-fourth of the children with asthma become symptom-free as adults. The condition persists in 85 percent of women and 72 percent of men.

>> Asthma can be controlled with a physician's care.

For information on the live chat, call Ablan's office, 533-4805 or 671-1558. A transcript will be posted in the library archive of americasdoctor.com.

Volunteers interested in participating in the asthma day concert should contact Gregg Kishaba, director of asthma education at the American Lung Association of Hawaii, 537-5966, ext. 303, or by e-mail at asthma@ala-hawaii.org.