Govt doctors to get special training in asthma, COPD on July 7

LUCKNOW: Experts from KGMU will impart special training in asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) to the doctors working at government hospitals here on Saturday.

“Teachers at medical colleges get opportunities to go for refresher courses but those at government hospital do not get such chances. Considering the fact, we decided to plan a session f or t hem,” said Prof Surya Kant, HoD, pulmonary medicine department, KGMU.

The training session, scheduled on July 7, has been organised by KGMU in association with the National Health Mission (NHM) and Cipla.

India has the second highest number of cases of COPD after China.

However, when it comes to deaths due to COPD, India ranks first, according to the 2016 Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) study.

Among all states, Uttar Pradesh ranks first in terms of COPD prevalence and mortality, in terms of absolute numbers.

According to the GBD data, in the year 2016 alone, UP had about 93 lakh people suffering from COPD and about 2 lakh people died of the disease.

Prof Surya Kant who is also the president of IMA-Lucknow, said, “Lower living standards in a country like India has claimed many life due to COPD. It is mostly deadly because we cannot identify the disease and treat it on time.”

He added, “Here comes the role of doctors and since the number of patient is much higher in the government hospitals, we decided to train the government doctors in the state to identify and treat the disease.”