New study to help schoolchildren living with asthma
UNIVERSITY of KwaZuluNatal (UKZN) Head of Paediatrics, Prof Refiloe Masekela, is a researcher on a new study aimed at improving the lives of asthmatic schoolchildren in Africa.
The £2 million (R34m) research project, led by Queen Mary University of London, will be conducted in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Malawi and Zimbabwe. In each country, it will involve 3 000 children aged between 12 and 14 years old.
Masekela says asthma-related deaths in South Africa remains very high. She says: “South Africa is in the top 10 countries experiencing a high prevalence of asthma deaths, this despite us having excellent asthma treatment in the Essential Medicines List.
“This study will seek to look at factors that impact on asthma control and adherence in school-going adolescent children. The outcome of this will inform future strategies and interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality among affected children in Africa.”
Together with a research team, Masekela will conduct surveys in a sample of schools in Durban. She will assess asthma control and treatment, attitudes to asthma and barriers to achieving good control.
The team will use the new data to design and test a schoolbased intervention, which will include the adaption of an existing theatre production written by Nigerian-born playwright Tunde Euba, which addresses stigma around asthma.
The intervention could include education on the proper use of medication and tools to improve compliance to treatment.
In addition, she will also investigate the prevalence of allergies and factors impacting on or worsening existing medical conditions, such as eczema.
Recent surveys have found that over 20 percent of South African schoolchildren aged 13 to 14 have ongoing asthma symptoms, and the number of schoolchildren in Africa with asthma has increased by over 15 million since 1990.
Lead researcher, Prof Jonathan Grigg, from Queen Mary’s Blizard Institute, argues that this increase can be attributed to urbanisation.
He said: “The number of children in sub-Saharan Africa who live in urban areas is rapidly increasing. These children are developing diseases of urbanisation such as asthma. However, very little is known about the severity of asthma in African children. Working with leading paediatricians across Africa, the grant will allow us to describe the burden of asthma in children, and the reasons underlying poor asthma control.”
The project is funded by the UK Government’s National Institute for Health Research for three years. The research in KZN is expected to begin in September.
The project will also involve Kwame Nkrumah University’s College of Health Sciences in Ghana, Lagos State University College of Medicine in Nigeria, Makerere University in Uganda, Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme in Malawi and the University of Zimbabwe.