Featured Fundraisers World COPD Day On 17 November, the Foundation celebrated World COPD Day. This international day is about raising awareness around Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, or COPD. For 2021, the theme was “Healthy Lungs – Never More Important”. This year’s aim was to highlight that the burden of COPD remains, in spite of the ongoing global COVID pandemic. COPD continues to be a leading cause of death worldwide, and there is never a more important time to focus on lung health. Keeping your lungs healthy can include avoiding cigarettes, air pollution or occupational exposure, as well as staying active through regular physical activity or pulmonary rehabilitation. To mark World COPD Day, respiratory physician and co-author of our COPD Guidelines Dr Stuart Jones answered questions from our audience about COPD in a Facebook video. You can watch it on the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation Facebook page.
Sailor goes online In October, the Foundation launched the Sailor Digital Classroom, a brand-new free online tool to teach primary school children about asthma. Children can join Sailor the Pufferfish and his friend Jelly on a quest to find out about what asthma is, asthma triggers, how to treat asthma, and what to do in an asthma emergency. “The Sailor Digital Classroom uses a different platform to open up access to asthma education, delivering the key educational elements of the ‘live’ Sailor the Pufferfish show, to every primary school in New Zealand,” says Joanna Turner, Research and Education Manager at ARFNZ.
Joe’s amazing asthma invention
The Digital Classroom was proudly suppported by Pub Charity Ltd.
While the Digital Classroom will not replace our Sailor live show, it will mean that schools can receive asthma education faster, and regardless of the COVID traffic light setting. We can also engage with more children in schools throughout New Zealand than ever before, particularly those in rural communities, and schools who have hosted a live show can update their asthma knowledge by completing the digital classroom refresher. Schools can register their interest at digital.sailorasthmashow.co.nz
Marlborough schoolboy Joe May came up with a smart idea for his recent Science Fair project – the Puff’n’Go inhaler carry case! Joe, who has severe asthma, always needs to have his inhaler on him. But he found that the carry cases currently on the market aren’t ideal, because he has to carry them in his hands and they’re not waterproof. This is a real problem for running, cycling and playing sports. So Joe came up with a wearable and waterproof inhaler carrier, which you can strap onto your arm to carry your medication easily whatever activity you’re doing. His brilliant invention won the whole Marlborough Science Fair for the intermediate age group! “I use my invention every day now for carrying around my inhaler and spacer,” says Joe, who is in Year 8 at Renwick School. “It’s so helpful for me and makes it easy to keep my inhaler with me at all times.”
3 Better Breathing
