Asthmatics are often fed up with common misconceptions about their illness, like: they are not allowed to eat chicken or chocolate, they always have to avoid extraneous activities, they are not capable of having furry pets, and the most common of all, they lose all the fun in life.
In the case of actress Kim Chiu, who discovered she has asthma at the age of 16, it became a burden and a distraction to her career in show biz.
Chiu said: “It was during our taping when I started to cough hard and had difficulty in breathing. I visited a doctor for a checkup and he confirmed I have a mild asthma.”
Chiu also owned pet dogs before she knew she had asthma and was not aware that it was a factor that could have triggered her illness. But after consulting experts and taking proper medications that helped relieve her asthma, Chiu was able to get back on track.
“Being an asthmatic won’t make you less [of a] person. Don’t prevent yourself with [whatever] you want to do because of asthma,” the actress said.
Along with Chiu, known celebrities like Olympic figure skater Michael Christian Martinez and international rock star Arnel Pineda who are also asthmatics are advocating to fight asthma. With a campaign titled “Search for Winners Against Asthma 2015,” these ambassadors will spread awareness and share some of the stories from over 10 million Filipinos who have this condition.
The Search for Winners Against Asthma 2015 will recognize 10 young asthmatic achievers from different walks of life. Interested participants should be at least 10 to 30 years old, was diagnosed with asthma by a physician, a Filipino, and must be an achiever in his/her field.
The campaign is organized by pharmaceutical and healthcare company GlaxoSmithKline, in partnership with the Philippine College of Physicians, the Philippine Academy of Family Physicians, the Philippine Society of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, Huawei and Folded & Hung.
Deadline for submitting entries is March 31 and winners will be announced on the third week of May. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/winagainstasthma.