The respiratory physician in a Third World district hospital.

Respiratory diseases are the commonest cause ofhospital attendance and also death in many parts of the Third World. They resulted in 22% of adult admissions to one hospital in Uganda,' 23-5% of paediatric admissions in Zambia,2 and up to 25% of all hospital cases in Papua New Guinea.3 Respiratory infections, particularly pneumonia and tuberculosis, are the most common conditions, but asthma and non-infectious chronic lung diseases are also common in