As part of activities to commemorate 2023 World Asthma Day (WAD), Ewere Care Foundation (ECF) on Saturday embarked on a community outreach to Wassa village in Abuja, the federal capital territory (FCT).
WAD, held on May 2 every year, is organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborative organization founded in 1993.
WAD is held worldwide each May to raise awareness for asthma, one of the priority areas of ECF.
During the community outreach by ECF to Wassa village, items, including food, clothes, soap, etc were distributed to the villagers.
Speaking during the outreach, founder of ECF, Cynthia Ewere Etuokwu harped on the causes, symptoms and treatment of asthma.
According to Etuokwu, the causes of asthma are respiratory infection, dust, pest (cockroach), pet (dog), genetic factor, environmental factors (air pollutants and irritants) and mould.
“Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease that affects the lungs. It is caused by inflammation of the airways resulting in wheezing, coughing, shortness of breath and difficulty in breathing.
“Asthma is not contagious. It can be hereditary, but environmental factors can also cause asthma,” she said.
Speaking further, Etuokwu disclosed that there is currently no cure for asthma but that it can be managed and controlled.
“Treatment can help control the symptoms. Your health provider may prescribe medications to control the symptoms,” she said.
Etuokwu listed control for asthma to include asthma inhaler, a small device that delivers medication straight into the lungs, and nebulizer, a machine or device that changes medication from liquid to mist to be easily inhaled into the lungs.
Others she said are steroids and other anti-inflammatory drugs, which Etuokwu said help by reducing inflammation, swelling and mucus production in the airways.
“You can have asthma and still live a normal healthy life. Asthma is not a death sentence if managed properly,” she stressed.
Highlights of the community outreach include the distribution of food items to the villagers, a talk on health education, storytelling and a guidance and counselling session.
ECF is a non-governmental organization aimed at enhancing mental health care (the depressed) and people living with asthmatic conditions, especially children.
The vision of the foundation is to promote health programs, empowerments by reaching out to the socially and economically underprivileged sections of the society both in rural and urban centres.