Accra, May 5, GNA - Dr. Augustine K. Kwashie, a physician specialist at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, on Tuesday called for the national coordination of statistics on reported cases of asthma to enable the disease to receive the needed attention. He said currently recorded data on the disease were scattered, making it difficult to ascertain the actual prevalence rate, yet there existed clinical evidence to prove that asthma was on the rise among women and children in Ghana.

Dr Kwashie, who was addressing a forum to mark World Asthma Day celebrations, explained that the disease, which had no known cause except for hereditary, was currently presented in persons with no genetic history of asthma. He said this new dimension was a clear indication that required urgent national attention and recognition to ensure that the disease did not entrench itself on the quiet to raise mortality among vulnerable groups.

Asthma is a continuous inflammatory disorder of the airways, leading to cough, colds, wheezing and difficulty in breathing, among other symptoms, and affects over 300 million people worldwide, yet it has no cure. Dr Kwashie said approximately 20 to 40 asthma patients were seen at both the paediatric and the adult Asthma Clinic at Korle-bu Teaching Hospital every week, adding that, the number of cases had been increasing steadily with women and children forming majority of reported cases. "We have about 74 per cent of female and 26 per cent of male asthma cases each year and this imbalance could be due to the fact that more female take their health problems much more seriously than their male counterparts."

World Asthma Day, which was under the theme: "You Can Control your Asthma, (Asthma can kill) Seek Early Treatment," was initiated by Global Initiative for Asthma Assembly, to create awareness on the need to control and possibly eradicate the disease. A number of countries, including Ghana, have signed to the global alliance to ensure that asthma receives global attention to ensure its total eradication.

Dr Kwashie said though asthma had no cure, it could be managed to minimize its negative impact on the socio-economic development, both the individual and the nation at large. He called for more public education on the disease, which used to be mainly genetic, yet was gradually becoming an acquired condition due to poor environmental sanitation, pollution and bad habits such as smoking tobacco and food. He advised parents whose children had symptoms such as cold, excessive coughs, wheezing, chest pains and difficulties in breathing to report early to the hospital for treatment to prevent complications and deaths.

Dr Kwashie further stressed the need for asthma patients to practice moderate exercising, avoid spicy foods as well as certain acidic fruits that could trigger an attack and also develop quality relationship with their physicians to enable them to manage the disease. The Reverend David Kyenkyenhene, Chief Executive Officer, Qodesh Group of Companies, called on government to enforce the law on the ban on public smoking and also make the World Asthma Day a national event of importance. He also called on the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health service to make available to the public statistical reports on asthma, especially its mortality rate and the effect it has on the national economy.

Rev Kyenkyenhene expressed worry that, though asthma was comparable with HIV/AIDS, diabetes or malaria, it had not received national attention and its prevalence in the country had been de-emphasized. He called on all stakeholders to join in the crusade and in the global alliance to control the rate of deaths caused by asthma. "We wish to call the attention of the general public to the fact that dirt is a major cause of the disease and must be treated as an alien," he said.