About four million Kenyans could be living with asthma, Kenyatta National Hospital CEO Evanson Kamuri said yesterday.
He said the burden of the respiratory disease is higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and the cases are growing. He blamed this on increased air pollution.
"Air pollution has adversely affected many people both young and old. Environmental degradation is unforgiving," he said.
He spoke at KNH yesterday during celebrations to mark the World Asthma Day, whose theme was "Better Air, Better Breathing".
"The epidemiology of asthma in Kenya has not been comprehensively described to date although a few epidemiological studies have been carried and they suggest the disease is common. The disease may affect up to 10 per cent of the population," he said.
Asthma is the commonest chronic lung disease in the world but in many parts of the Kenya, it remains under-diagnosed and under-treated, leading to poor quality of life, and enormous social, family and economic costs.
In Kenya, until recently, there were no public supported asthma-care programmes designed to optimise care for patients.
The CEO said since inception of the asthma clinic at KNH there have been decreased admissions in the wards.
"In KNH we have started asthma care of excellence in medical outpatient clinic that runs daily from Monday to Friday," he said.
Asthma is a condition in which your airways narrow and swell and produce extra mucus. This can make breathing difficult and trigger coughing, wheezing and shortness of breath.
For some people, asthma is a minor nuisance. For others, it can be a major problem that interferes with daily activities and may lead to a life-threatening asthma attack.
Asthma cannot be cured, but its symptoms can be controlled.
Because asthma often changes over time, it's important that patients work with their doctors to track the signs and symptoms and adjust treatment as needed.
