A Consultant Chest Physician, Prof. Gregory Erhabor, says improved asthma knowledge is crucial to enhancing diagnosis, treatment and survival of asthma sufferers.
Erhabor, Professor of Medicine, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, said this in an interview with Newsmen on Tuesday in Lagos, in commemoration of World Asthma Day.
World Asthma Day, celebrated annually on the first Tuesday in May, seeks to improve asthma awareness and care globally, with the theme of the 2024 celebration “Asthma Education Empowers”.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Asthma is a long-term disease of the lungs that causes airways to get inflamed, narrow and makes it hard to breathe.
It is a major noncommunicable disease (NCD), affecting both children and adults, and it is the most common chronic disease among children.
Inflammation and narrowing of the small airways in the lungs cause asthma symptoms, which can be any combination of cough, wheeze, shortness of breath and chest tightness.
Data from the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) shows that asthma affects no fewer than 260 million people and is responsible for over 450,000 deaths each year worldwide, most of which are preventable.
Erhabor complained that asthma was underdiagnosed and poorly treated among many sufferers in Nigeria, and other low-middle-income countries, contributing to the increasing mortality of asthma sufferers.
He stressed the importance of empowering asthma sufferers with appropriate education to manage their disease, the risk factor and effective treatment.
The professor advised healthcare professionals to improve their knowledge of effective management of asthma in order to provide reliable information and optimal treatment to their patients.
According to him, in the past, asthma was viewed as a bronchospasm disease (a disease that causes the narrowing of the airways), noting that people treat it with drugs to widen the airways.
“It was later discovered that asthma is an inflammatory disease because there are lots of inhibitors that lead to the blockage of the airways.
“My appeal to healthcare professionals is “don’t treat asthma as a bronchospasm disease, treat it as an inflammatory disease to achieve optimal results,” he said.
He also called for early identification of patients requiring specialist assessment and prompt referral for further management to improve treatment outcomes.
Erhabor stressed that Asthma cannot be cured, however, there are several treatments available with the most common being inhalers.
“A person with an asthma attack is more likely to have more attacks, so there’s a need to teach him how to use his inhaler.
“Their treatment will depend on the frequency of symptoms and severity of diseases,” he said.
He, however, complained that accessibility and affordability of medicines was a challenge to many people living with asthma in Nigeria.
Erhabor put the prevalence of asthma patients at 5 to 10 per cent of the population, calling on the government to implement effective and affordable asthma care that would reduce morbidity and mortality from the disease.
