Call for EU allergy research via FP7

The European Parliament rapporteur on the European Union's seventh framework research program (FP7), Jerzy Buzek, wants the inclusion of allergic diseases under the general health thematic research in the future FP7. In the current European Commission proposal for FP7, allergies figure only under the food thematic research.

Allergies result from complex interactions between genes and environment. Allergic diseases have dramatically in-creased since 1950 due to a number of different factors: greater exposure to allergens, pollutants, dietary changes, food-processing techniques, housing architecture and the water supply. Currently, nearly one-third of children are allergic and 30%-50% of them develop asthma.

"Allergies have a huge negative impact on health, quality of life, education and career achievement and thus present a major health economic burden for the EU," said Anthony Frew, president of the Stockholm, Sweden-based European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology, at a debate organized by Dr Buzek recently, in Brussels.