Kathmandu, Jan. 17 -- My aunt would lie on her side on raised pillows, wheezing. She would speak between coughing and wheeze some more. Then she would pull out- what I considered a toy as a child- an inhaler, clamp it in her mouth and press, then suck in for a while before repeating. She would fall asleep when the wheezing eased.

I would soon learn her toy was actually an asthalin inhaler for asthma patients. And in the years that followed, I would soon be using them.

As a school girl, my bag had a pile of books like most children going to mediocre private schools in Kathmandu do. Nestled between them, always, was the inhaler, reading "salbutamol" on its label. I was likely to forget my lunch box some days, but never my inhaler.

My mem...