By; Bayo Akamo, Ibadan.
President of the Nigeria Society for the Asthmatics (NSFA), University College Hospital (UCH) chapter, Dr. Olusoji Ige has hinted that Asthma killed at least 250,000 people in Nigeria every year.
Dr Ige who dropped this hint in Ibadan thursday at the 2016 World Asthma Day celebration with the theme “You Can Control Your Asthma” also said about 1.5million Nigerians are asthmatic patients
According to Dr Ige, it has been revealed that majority of the 250,000 people killed by Asthma in Nigeria are grown up adults of above the age of 25 years and died due to poor management of the disease.
The NSFA President noted that for now, Asthma disease “can absolutely be controlled but not cured” as no drug has been made to cure it.
“We lost 250,000 Asthma patients yearly due to poor management, most of them are not using their inhaler and their drugs” he said.
The NSFA President attributed lack of political will and organization of services as the bane of challenges facing Asthmatic patients in the Nigeria
Speaking further he said a recently conducted research showed that no fewer than 1.5 million Nigerians are still suffering from Asthma, saying, “about 1.5 million people in Nigeria are Asthmatic patients, though the study is still ongoing”
“About 1.5 million people in Nigeria are Asthmatic patients, though the study is still ongoing but I can tell you that about 1.5 million Nigerians are down with Asthma but out of this 250,000 die as a result of poor management of Asthma”.
A Consultant Family Physician at UCH, Dr. Olufemi Olowookere,
in his remark said “though there is still no medicine for the cure of Asthma, but that with the new technologies, communication level there is still better life for Asthmatic patients not only in the world but in Nigeria”.
He advised nursing and those about to become nursing mothers to learn how to properly breast feed their children for a longer time considering the fact that children that are well breast feed are naturally immune against disease while those not well breast feed are likely to be allergic to Asthma.
“Please, I beg you in the name of God breast feed your child for a longer time, most child feed for one, two or three years, they are not allergic to Asthma.
The royal father of the day, Oba Fredrick Obateru Akinruntan, the Olugbo of Ugbo Kingdom in his message said “Asthma is a chronic disease of the airway that afflicts all age groups and leads to deaths that is highly preventable if properly managed”.
