The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Only 10% of caretakers of children suffering from asthma can control an attack when it happens, Dr. Rebecca Nantanda, a researcher and pediatrician at Makerere University Lung Institute in Mulago has revealed.
Dr. Nantanda says that while piloting a tool dubbed the “Asthma Control Tool” in boarding schools across the country, they realized that the complications that come with asthma are largely undiagnosed.
Armed with the tool that uses mobile phones, Dr. Nantanda, said they interacted with students, school nurses and parents through workshops, talks and assessments in sickbays to determine people’s knowledge about the disease.
In Kampala, they found 13.8% of the children had symptoms of asthma whereas in Urban Jinja, they accounted for 21%. In rural Jinja, 13% of the children had symptoms. They also found adolescents have more uncontrolled asthma than children.
When they visited Gayaza high school for instance they found that some students didn’t know that they had asthma but also didn’t want to associate with it because of stigma since they were not allowed to participate in co-curricular activities once the administration realized that a student has the complication.
Nantanda says these findings speak of the bigger fact and danger that many who suffer from asthma never seek appropriate care.
So, paediatricians at Makerere University Lung Institute plan to design an intervention on how to establish the project of School Centered Asthma Care Program (SCACP) of Uganda Paediatric Association (UPA) that is funded by American College of Pediatrics.
Asthma remains one of the biggest allergic complications in the country mostly affecting children. World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 235 million people currently suffer from asthma. Asthma is the most common non communicable disease among children but most deaths occur in older adults.
It is a public health problem not just for high-income countries. It occurs in all countries regardless of the level of development. Most asthma-related deaths occur in low- and lower-middle income countries. It creates a substantial burden to individuals and families and often restricts individuals’ activities for a lifetime.
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