Seven Million Nigerians Are Asthmatic –Experts

About seven million Ni
gerians have been estimated to be affected with Asthma disease while  no fewer than 300 million are affected across the world.
The Medical Science Liaison, Gla so Smith Kline (GSK) Dr. Omolabake Okunubi released this last Tuesday during the marking of the World Asthma Day (WAD) in Lagos.
Speaking to journalists, Okunubi said that the severity of Asthma was underestimated in the country adding that such act had only trivialised the effect of the disease on the overall  health implications of the nation’s citizenry.
Describing it as a killer disease, Okunubi however said that the disease can be controlled and should not limit peoples lives as it is commonly viewed.
According to her “as deadly as asthma can be the good news is that people can control their asthma. There is a class of medication known as controller drugs for asthma. These are taken on a daily basis to put the symptoms under control. Besides, with correct treatment, support and advice, asthmatics can lead full and active lives thus, it does not have to limit people’s life because it can be controlled.
In the event of asthma attacks, she advised that the asthmatics should take one or two puffs of their reliever inhaler (usually blue), sit up and take slow steady breaths.
“If the asthmatics do not start to feel better, they should take two puffs of their reliever inhaler. This should be one puff at a time. They can take up to 10 puffs. It they do not feel better after taking the inhaler, the asthmatic can visit a hospital”, she stated.
Speaking on this year’s theme of the WAD ‘You  Can Control your Asthma’ a consultant panediatrician with the Braithewaite Specialist Memorial Hospital (BSMH), Port Harcourt, (name withheld) said “asthma patients can stop the attacks by taking their preventer treatment regularly. It should be known that 80 percent of asthma problems are caused by allergies which means that this percentage of asthma patients have an allergic disorder from things like chemicals, drugs, dust mites, food attitudes,  tobacco smoke, fumes, pollutants and things like that. They should get to know the things which trigger their asthma condition and avoid them as much as possible. And so, you can control your asthma attacks by also taking your preventer treatment regularly.
Another specialist in family medicine at the University of Port Harcourt  Teaching Hospital (UPTH) also revealed that the world asthma day was a time when stakeholders and patients come together to share their challenges as well as proffering the way forward in the fight toward the elimination and or reduction of asthma attacks in the country and around the world.

Lady Godknows Ogbulu

L-R: National Director, Alternative Care System for Children, Mr Eghosa Erhumwunse; representative of the Mother of the day, Mrs Yewande Ayoola; Director, Alternative Care System for Children, Mrs Rabi Galadima; Chairman, Board of Trustees, SOS Children’s Villages Nigeria, Mr Sylvester Ebhodaghe; representative of the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Fabowale Gbadebo and Director, Family Health,
Federal Ministry of Health, Mr Wapada Mni, at the Launch Oo ‘care for me campaign’ in Abuja, recently