Royal Philips Electronics announced today a global partnership with the World Association of Sleep Medicine (WASM), as official sponsor of World Sleep Day 2011, being held across the globe on Friday, March 18. This partnership illustrates Philips’ expanding efforts to increase awareness of how sleep impacts people’s health and well-being all around the world, on a daily basis.

“Philips is honored to be working with the World Association of Sleep Medicine,” commented Dr. David White, Chief Medical Officer for Philips Home Healthcare Solutions and a Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Through the sponsorship of the World Sleep Day we aim to increase people’s understanding of the seriousness of sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) which, if not properly managed, can have a significant impact on a person’s health and well-being.”

Commenting on the sponsorship with Philips, Antonio Culebras, Professor of Neurology at SUNY, Upstate Medical University in New York, and co-Chair of World Sleep Day, said, “We’re excited to be working with Philips in raising awareness of the significant and increasing impact lack of sleep is having on people across the world.”

At the same time, Philips, together with leading Australian sleep researcher Dr. Sarah Blunden (http://www.sleepeducation.net.au) and the WASM, announced the launch of a new educational module on sleep for children around the world, as part of the SimplyHealthy@Schools program. Available online at http://www.simplyhealthyatschools.com, the program aims to support teachers in educating children between the ages of 8 and 12 years, on the importance of sleep and how it can help to improve their health and well-being.

“More than ever we recognize how important a good night’s sleep is to our health and well-being, and our ability to function properly during the day. Through the SimplyHealthy@Schools program, we hope to be able to bring this lesson to the classroom and ensure children around the world can benefit from a better understanding of the day-to-day impact of sleep,” said Dr. Blunden, Pediatric Sleep Research Fellow at the Centre for Sleep Research, University of South Australia and director of the Australian Centre for Education in Sleep (ACES).

The fourth annual World Sleep Day - ‘Sleep Well, Grow Healthy’ – is themed to highlight the importance of sleep for people of all ages. Newborn infants, children, adolescents and adults, both young and old, need quality sleep to maintain a healthy life.

The scale of the problem is highlighted by the recently published Philips Index for Health and Well-being report – a massive consumer research study conducted across 23 countries and involving more than 31,000 people, that reveals 35 percent of people do not feel they get enough sleep, impacting on both their physical and mental health*.

Interestingly, with almost half of those responding citing ‘poor sleeper in general’ as a reason for sleep deprivation - it suggests that many may have just resigned themselves to not ever getting a good night’s sleep.

In reality, there are a number of potential causes for a disturbed night’s sleep. These include sleep disorders such as OSA, which affects approximately 4 percent of the adult population. It’s a disorder characterized by airway collapse (behind the tongue) during sleep, which obstructs breathing. If untreated, it can contribute to the development of high blood pressure, diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes. Snoring should also not be ignored in children, as it may be a symptom of OSA.

As a global leader in the management of sleep disorders, Philips innovates to find meaningful solutions that improve the health and well-being of people around the world, and has developed a wide range of products and solutions, from diagnostic tools through to patient-centered sleep therapy devices, to help enhance the quality of sleep.

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