000486 - Public Awareness Activities for World Asthma Day in Japan

The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) designates the first Tuesday of May each year as World Asthma Day (WAD) and encourages healthcare professionals worldwide to engage in awareness-raising activities for bronchial asthma (BA). In recent years in Japan, WAD has received little attention. While many other diseases have designated awareness days, there is currently no established awareness day for BA in Japan. Therefore, we initiated activities to promote WAD nationally and to establish it as a recognized awareness day for BA in Japan.

To raise awareness of WAD, we planned online advertising through major internet portals and social media platforms, as well as an illumination of Kyoto Tower. To secure the necessary funding, we launched a crowdfunding (CF) campaign and sought support through social media and online communities related to BA.

CF campaigns were conducted in 2024 and 2025, achieving 92% and 81% of their respective funding targets. On WAD in those years, Kyoto Tower was illuminated, and awareness advertisements were placed on major portal websites and social media platforms. The CF campaigns themselves functioned as awareness activities, and several companies and universities that learned about WAD conducted voluntary BA awareness initiatives.

BA awareness activities aligned with WAD can be conducted without reliance on corporate funding. Organizations responsible for BA should proactively engage in awareness initiatives independently of pharmaceutical promotion.