Experts look to end the menace of Asthma in Nigeria

Asthma is a long-lasting disease that affects the airways present in the lungs. It is characterized by the inflammation of the airways that normally allow air to come in and out of the lungs. A person with asthma will always have his airways sw0llen and the surrounding muscles tightened when the symptoms are triggered. The result of this is difficulty of air flow in and out of the lungs which causes the sufferer to cough, have short breaths and/or chest tightness.

Asthma is highly prevalent in Nigeria and has caused many deaths. It is therefore imperative that the Federal Government of Nigeria put necessary measures in place to ensure that the disease is properly handled. The Chief Medical Director of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Professor Wale Oke, stated that there is the need for more awareness and emphasis on the control and management of this ailment, to relief the symptom of this disorder among victims. He said this during the launch of Guidelines for the Management of Asthma held at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja , Lagos last week. He also said that asthma was known to be a chronic inflammatory disease and argued that the inflammatory component of the disease has brought a paradigm shift in the way it should be managed and controlled worldwide.

Asthmatic victims continue to die due to poor and misdiagnosis with lack of proper management procedures, poor device usage and stigmatization, therefore there is the need to develop a proper management guidelines – Prof. Wale Oke

In the light of this, an initiative has been birthed tagged “BREATH EASY PROJECT” which aims to eradicate this ailment by ensuring that no asthmatic patients dies due to them having asthma, having known that asthma could be dangerous and fatal if it’s not well treated and managed. Therefore the objective of the project is to ensure that asthma is properly managed and doesn’t get fatal, said the Managing Director of GSK Pharma, in the person of Mr. Cesar Marval.