Our health ministry should organise camps that provide free checkups to the public
LAHORE: The World Asthma Day is observed all over the world on the first Tuesday of May to increase awareness about the precautions and preventions of asthma. It is annually organised by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA). This year it will be observed a day before, on May 2nd.
Many healthcare professionals, members and educators take part in the ceremonies by conducting various activities to help reduce the burden of asthma. In Pakistan, seven million people suffer from asthma, while approximately 235 million people worldwide have a bronchial condition.
Unfortunately, there is no cure for asthma. However, symptoms can be prevented by avoiding triggers, such as allergens and irritants, and by the regular use of inhaled corticosteroids, which is one of the most effective medications to control asthma.
In 2015, 358 million people globally had asthma, a significant rise from the recorded patients in 1990 which stood at 183 million. The disease caused about over 397,000 deaths in 2015 alone, most of which occurred in the developing world.
Patients and their family members should be encouraged to follow the Asthma Action Plan (AAP) by their doctors to fulfil the specific needs of patients, such as use of medications that prevents them from the airway inflammations and environmental causes like dust mites and tobacco smoke. AAP is a big step taken by the National Asthma Education and Prevention Programme to bring together the clinicians, patients and others healthcare providers to work together, in order to control asthma. AAP aims at highlighting the control and handling its symptoms or sudden attacks.
The World Asthma Day’s objectives are to identify the patient and provide them with the right treatment based on the standard guidelines, and reduce death rates caused by the chronic disorder.
Our health ministry should organise camps that provide free checkups to the public to assess the severity of asthma among people. This will help a patient get the right treatment, which can be started immediately upon diagnosis. On the other hand, patients should also be motivated to go for their scheduled follow-up to their respective doctors, at least at periodic intervals of six months, and at the same time control their exposure to triggers.
Dr Zeeshan Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2017.
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