It's enormous. I think it's reaching epidemic levels here, as it is all over the world in developed countries. The richer the country, the worse the problem. We've got over 52,000 vehicles on 24 square miles, which is unbelievable. We've got homes that have everything ? our children don't have just one stuffed animal, their bedrooms are full of them. We have carpets and curtains and drapes and cushions and pillows and fabulous furnishings. Because we're so affluent, there's also more crime which means that when we go out, we have to lock up our houses. We have to close the windows. So our houses sit there, hot, stagnant and still ? a wonderful breeding ground for mildew and mould and dust mites. They're horrendous. They're microscopic and just about everybody with allergies is allergic to them. The dust mite loves Bermuda, because he likes heat and he likes humidity. He lives wherever he can get hold of our skin, anywhere he can burrow. He loves your bed. He loves your pillow. He loves stuffed animals. He loves your carpet. No. They can be born with the tendencies ? there's a familial, genetic predisposition. A lot of very young children haven't got asthma but they've got asthma symptoms, the coughing and the wheezing. As they get older it disappears. Asthma can come at any time in your life and it does definitely affect (older people). It's interesting if you go into the homes for the elderly, they may say they only have one lady with asthma living there. But when I go into the schools, one in four children has asthma. When these (children) grow up, are the elderly homes going to be full because asthma's on the rise? I think it will be. I have one question I'd like to ask everybody in Bermuda. I'm passionate about this. I've had severe asthma all my life and it is so easy to control that I've got one question to ask anybody in Bermuda who has asthma ? why have they got asthma? Why aren't they doing something about it?

You will never be able to avoid all the triggers. You can't do anything about those but you can do something about your medications and medications are fantastic now. They're safe. They're effective. They're easy to use. Apart from children aged two and younger, nobody should suffer from asthma. It's so very easily controlled.

So I think people should see their doctors and get the right prescription, and then I think they should see an asthma nurse like myself or visit the very good Asthma Education Centre at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH).

They don't need referring, all they have to do is pick up the phone and ask for an appointment. And it only takes one hour. In that time, somebody will explain everything so that you really understand it ? asthma, your medicine, how to take it and when to take it. Just one hour can change your life. It might even save your life. It's that dramatic. So my message is, why does anybody have asthma? They shouldn't have. I came to Bermuda because of my asthma. I was in the Intensive Care Unit five times in a year, the year after I finished my training as a nurse. It was really, really bad and so my mother suggested I go and live somewhere where there's lots of sea air and fresh air not knowing that Bermuda is one of the worst places in the world for asthma.

Today, all I do to control my asthma is use one medication with two medications in it ? one inhalation, once a day. That's all I do. If I see trouble coming I step it up to twice a day. I've also taken control of my house ? I got rid of any carpet (and other triggers), but the biggest thing I'm doing, I'm complying with the medicine.Not everybody can (do everything that's necessary). If you're in a rented place, perhaps you can't take the carpets up and things like that. But I think most people in Bermuda can afford a new pillow ? Trimingham's have got some pillows with dust mite covers on sale.

But the biggest difference is getting the right medicine and taking it. Our problem is getting people to take something when they feel well.

When I say to people who don't take their medication and have just ended up in hospital again, 'How about brushing your teeth? Do you do that'? They say, 'Of course'. And I ask: 'Why? We can get you a new set of false teeth but we can't get you new lungs ? not very easily anyway'. But people put up with asthma. They put up with not feeling well. And I think that's because they get used to it. They don't know what it feels like not to feel like that. Basically you have a tight chest. You have shortness of breath. It's difficult to breathe. You have a wheeze. You have a cough. And, you generally haven't got much energy ? you feel tired from waking up in the night due to coughing. But basically, it's disabling. It disrupts your life. And it certainly is life threatening as well. Happily it's not common at all but people of all ages do die of asthma. And, because of that, I think it must be treated very, very seriously. I think in England they have about 2,000 deaths a year. I'm not sure what it is in the States. In Bermuda it comes and goes.

There was the case that made the big headlines ? Steven (Pepe) Dill at the prison ? but the bottom line is that nobody should die of asthma. If you have asthma, you should get the right medication and take it.

You should control your environment. You should know how to recognise when there's trouble coming. Just about everybody who's been through the education programme, either with Debbie Jones, the Asthma specialist at KEMH, or myself, they never have to go to the Emergency Department again.I think it was in 1997. I started it basically because I was trying to help so many people and then I realised I couldn't help people if they couldn't afford a $10 spacer ? the chamber to put the inhaler in ? or if they couldn't afford a new pillow.

I kept giving people things but I can't actually afford to do that for the whole of Bermuda. But the real deciding factor came when I came across a child who'd had a life-threatening attack.

He'd been in the Intensive Care Unit and his family clearly couldn't buy him a $10 spacer. They weren't picking up the prescriptions that the doctor prescribed because they thought they couldn't afford them ? the mum wasn't working.

We said we'd help him and then found he was sleeping on the floor. People think everyone lives in wonderful houses in Bermuda ? they don't. I shared his story with someone who had a son, Christopher, who'd had very severe asthma and then got better. I told her how I would have to start a charity because of this child ? how he needs more than just a $10 spacer. He needs a bed. He needs a lot of things.

What was really sweet was that the following Monday morning, Christopher came in with $7.50 for me, explaining how he had done some jobs around the house to start my charity. So we literally started our charity with that ? $7.50.

Today Open Airways raises funds for those three things ? to train healthcare professionals, to educate the community as well as to provide equipment. I don't have an office as such. Open Airways trains healthcare professionals ? doctors and nurses and physiotherapists and pharmacists ? toward the six-month diploma qualification from Britain's National Respiratory Training Centre that I originally went off the island to do in 1991. We also educate the community ? we do a lot of work in the schools. We actually give every child in the school with asthma a pillow with a dust mite cover and a little package with information. They become the 'experts'. We've seen a huge improvement. Since 1996 admissions to KEMH came down by 65 per cent. But in the last year, it's gone up five per cent. The question is are there more asthmatics or are we doing something wrong? As I've said, the medications now are so good, we should all be in control.

I went and counted how many people had been to the Emergency Department for asthma in January and February of this year, it was almost 400. We had 380 people go in, in two months. So that's nearly 400 people who should not have gone to Emergency. They should know how to control their asthma. Anybody who ends up in Emergency basically is not in control.Basically, lead a healthy life. Eat well. In your actual home, discourage your children from having dozens of stuffed animals. They hold mould, mildew and dust mites.

If a child has asthma, I would suggest no more than two or three stuffed animals in their bedroom and those animals ought to be placed in the deep freeze once a week, for six hours. That will kill the dust mites. All they need after that is a quick run in the dryer to warm them up.

Carpets obviously are not a great idea. They hold the mould. They hold the mites. They're bad, bad news. Go for wood floors or tiled floors ? our charity has taken quite a number of children's bedroom carpets up and paid to have tile put down because it can make a huge difference.

Have house plants. Not plants with pollens but ferns, spider plants or rubber plants. They put out good oxygen and get rid of some of the chemicals in the air.

Open the windows on beautiful days to get air through. Don't use chemicals. Do not use fresh air sprays or plug-ins in the bathroom. The best way to clean your house is to just use a damp cloth. My grandmother used to clean her house with a mixture of one-third white vinegar, two-thirds water. But the biggest thing is to get the right medication and take it every day. Even when you feel well.There's only a very small number of people who (can't afford medication today). Insurance will pay for most of it. And once you get good control, you're on such a low dose that you only need take it once a day. That's never been possible before.

It's only very recently they've had (medication that can be taken) once a day. (Admittedly most are required to be taken) twice a day, but if people can brush their teeth twice a day, they can take an asthma medication twice a day.Regrettably, there are no more tag days left. On Tuesday we're going to have a fair at the hospital, from 8.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m. There'll be asthma nurses there all day giving away free spacer devices ? in fact, we'll be giving them away throughout the week.

On Thursday we'll be in the Washington Mall from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. On Friday there will be a talk on children with asthma at the Chamber of Commerce at noon. And, we'll be visiting the schools throughout the week.

The End to End is on May 7, which really is exciting because we're one of the (recipient) charities this year. One of our big dreams is ? and I think it's going to happen by September ? to have an asthma nurse just for the schools because the (regular) school nurses are so busy.

So our aim is to have her visit each school and find out first of all, which children have asthma, which children keep missing time from school (because of it) and then follow up and help each individual family. And, she's going to drive around Bermuda in (what we call) an Asthma-bile which will make us very visible and will be funded by End to End.