World Asthma Day breathes new life into scholar and student campaigns
WORLD Asthma Day takes place tomorrow.
The theme of World Asthma Day 2018, an awareness-raising event organised internationally by the Global Initiative for Asthma (Gina) and locally by the National Asthma Education Programme is “Never too early, never too late, it's always the right time to address airways disease”.
This year, the focus is on educating school pupils and university students about asthma.
We have run a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter leading up to World Asthma Day, and are encouraging people to share their stories and raise awareness.
South Africa is currently fourth in the world, and first in Africa, in terms of asthma fatalities.
According to the 2014 Global Asthma Report, 1.5% of the 3.9 million South Africans with asthma die from this preventable disease annually.
According to a recent report by Gina, South Africa has the world's fourth-highest asthma death rate among 5- to 35-year-olds.
Asthma is the third most common cause of hospital admissions of children, and yet only 2% of patients with asthma receive treatment.
In 2017, a 21-year-old BCom student died of an asthma attack while on campus at the University of North West, leaving his parents to question whether the institution could have done more to help save his life.
And, in 2016, a 20-year-old Rhodes University student lost her life, again to an asthma attack.
It was this student who prompted the launch of the LJS Foundation, formed by her parents to raise awareness about asthma and to improve the lives of disadvantaged children and communities.
Because of the National Asthma Education Programme's alignment with these principles, we chose to partner ourselves with the LJS Foundation to provide support and practical applications for
the combating of asthma in South Africa.
Our focus this year is thus on school and university students, as
we echo the driving force behind this year's World Asthma Day: it is never too early, and never too late.
The National Asthma Education Programme is a non-profit organisation that aims to disseminate impartial information about asthma diagnosis and treatment to health professionals and the South African public.
It also runs courses, workshops and meetings for the public and professionals.
The National Asthma Education Programme was first launched in 1989 by key opinion leaders in South Africa and is part of an international organisation and drive which subscribes to guidelines set out by Gina, the SA Thoracic Society and the Allergy Society of SA.
Membership to the public is free and can be accessed by contacting the programme or registering on its website: www.asthmasa.org. Call 021 830 5937. E-mail: naepr@netactive.co.za. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter.
Lee-Anne Partridge is secretary of the National Asthma Educational Programme