Jose Maria Casais, 69, who is suffering from flu, uses an oxygen nebuliser as he sits on a wheelchair inside his house, in Barcelona, Spain, December 22, 2022. Casais, a retired engineer, says he is being forced to raid his savings every month after his energy bills soared because of his reliance on the oxygen machine to alleviate his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). For the past two years, Casais has been plugged into the oxygen concentrator for up to 24 hours a day. His electricity bill has almost tripled since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, he says, triggering an energy crisis in Europe because of its dependence on Russian gas. REUTERS/Nacho Doce SEARCH "DOCE ENERGY CRISIS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Jose Maria Casais, 69, uses an oxygen nebuliser in his bedroom in Barcelona, Spain, December 11, 2022. Casais has a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, that causes airflow blockage and breathing-related problems. 'If the weather suddenly changes from good to a rainy day you feel terrible' he said. 'The cold affects your breathing.' REUTERS/Nacho Doce SEARCH "DOCE ENERGY CRISIS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Fernando Uceta, 61, who suffers from COPD, uses a nebuliser to deliver antibiotics directly to his lungs, following a double lung transplant in August, at his house in Barcelona, Spain, November 25, 2022. 'There's an energy poverty that some call the invisible version, which is where people do what I do - put on less heating and not use air conditioning. Or people turn off their oxygen machine and don't receive the amount they need' Uceta said. REUTERS/Nacho Doce SEARCH "DOCE ENERGY CRISIS" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Mimi Oset, 45, who has a visual disability and an immune-system illness, uses a nebuliser as she sits on her bed inside their house in the Sants neighborhood, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Barcelona, Spain, August 9, 2021. Picture taken August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Nacho Doce 

Mimi Oset, 45, who has a visual disability and an immune-system illness, uses a nebuliser as she sits on her bed inside their house in the Sants neighborhood, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Barcelona, Spain, August 9, 2021. Picture taken August 9, 2021. REUTERS/Nacho Doce 

Celedonia Angulo sits next to her nebuliser in her house during a blackout in Catia slum in Caracas, Venezuela March 8, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso 

Eight-month-old Sheikh Rahaman receives treatment with a nebuliser on Ghoramara Island, India, August 19, 2018. Ghoramara Island, part of the Sundarbans delta on the Bay of Bengal, has nearly halved in size over the past two decades, according to village elders. REUTERS/Rupak De Chowdhuri SEARCH "CHOWDHURI COASTLINE" FOR THIS STORY. SEARCH "WIDER IMAGE" FOR ALL STORIES. 

Two-year-old Pengpeng receives nebulizer therapy on the third day after China's capital Beijing issued its second ever "red alert" for air pollution, at the New Century International Children’s Hospital, in Beijing, China December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee 

Three-year-old Hanhan receives nebulizer therapy on the third day after China's capital Beijing issued its second ever "red alert" for air pollution, at the New Century International Children’s Hospital, in Beijing, China December 21, 2015.

Three-year-old Hanhan receives nebulizer therapy on the third day after China's capital Beijing issued its second ever "red alert" for air pollution, at the New Century International Children’s Hospital, in Beijing, China December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee 

Three-year-old Hanhan receives nebulizer therapy next his mother on the third day after China's capital Beijing issued its second ever "red alert" for air pollution, at the New Century International Children’s Hospital, in Beijing, China December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee 

Two-year-old Pengpeng receives nebulizer therapy on the third day after China's capital Beijing issued its second ever "red alert" for air pollution, at the New Century International Children’s Hospital, in Beijing, China December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee 

Two-year-old Pengpeng receives nebulizer therapy on the third day after China's capital Beijing issued its second ever "red alert" for air pollution, at the New Century International Children’s Hospital, in Beijing, China December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee 

Two-year-old Pengpeng receives nebulizer therapy on the third day after China's capital Beijing issued its second ever "red alert" for air pollution, at the New Century International Children’s Hospital, in Beijing, China December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee 

Two-year-old Pengpeng receives nebulizer therapy on the third day after China's capital Beijing issued its second ever "red alert" for air pollution, at the New Century International Children’s Hospital, in Beijing, China December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

Two-year-old Pengpeng receives nebulizer therapy on the third day after China's capital Beijing issued its second ever "red alert" for air pollution, at the New Century International Children’s Hospital, in Beijing, China December 21, 2015. REUTERS/Jason Lee TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY 

A nine-year-old boy breathes from a nebulizer as he seeks treatment for his asthma at an outpatient care center of the government's health program Barrio Adentro in the low income neighborhood of Las Mayas in Caracas May 10, 2011. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins (VENEZUELA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY HEALTH) 

Nine-year-old Vikneswari Rajagopal breathes from a nebulizer as she seeks treatment for her asthma at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, September 25, with her mother Parameswari Munusamy looking on. There has been an increased in haze related sickness, mainly upper respiratory track infections, asthma, conjunctivitis and bronchitis since the country was enveloped with thick fog for the past two weeks. Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia and southern Philippines and parts of Indonesia archipelago have been covered by the smoky haze caused by the burning of huge tracts of bush and forest in Sumatra and the Indonesian half of Borneo island.

MALAYSIA HAZE