Health Care Workers trained to Bring Better Diagnosis and Treatment to Kenyans Suffering from Asthma

Friday, July 16, 2010

(New York, NY, Paris, France and Nairobi, Kenya) -The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), World Lung Foundation (WLF) and the Kenya Association to Prevent Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (KAPTLD) today announced that more than 30 health care workers from clinics around greater Nairobi have completed special training in the diagnosis, management and monitoring of asthma.

Nearly 50 million people in Africa suffer from asthma, according to the Global Burden of Asthma Report (2004), and the prevalence is generally higher in urban than in rural areas. Surveys conducted by The Union have found that the two principal challenges to managing this growing problem in low- and middle-income countries are the high cost of essential asthma medicines and a lack of training in standardized case management for the disease. The training course is part of an innovative, comprehensive program sponsored by the three organizations that addresses both of these challenges to asthma management in Kenya:

A comprehensive asthma care program including diagnosis, affordable medicine, case management, staff training and public education have been supported by World Lung Foundation (WLF) through funds raised by fielding a team of runners in the New York City Half-Marathon.
The International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) supplied the asthma medicines through the Asthma Drug Facility (ADF), an innovative procurement mechanism established by The Union that makes quality-assured asthma medicines available to low- and middle-income countries at an average of 50% of the usual cost. Its Department of Lung Health and Non-Communicable Diseases developed the training and technical assistance materials provided for the program.
The program is being administered by the KAPTLD, initially targeting 700 asthma patients through 15 clinics in and near Nairobi, reflecting the higher prevalence of asthma in urban areas.
The KAPTLD also led this week's training course for health care workers from those clinics, covering topics such as:
- the prevalence of asthma in Kenya
- risk factors that increase the severity of asthma or susceptibility to the disease
- instruction in the correct use of a peakflow meter to obtain the Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF), which is used to evaluate the severity of a patient's asthma
- demonstrations on how to use an inhaler, and how to instruct patients to use their inhaler effectively
- how to record the correct information on each patient's personal treatment card and on the clinic's patient register

The progress of the program is being documented in order to draw attention to the burden of asthma in low- and middle-income countries and to publicize ways of addressing that burden.

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Notes to Editors:

Photography of this week's training program is available for publication and key spokespeople are available for interview regarding the management of asthma in Kenya, including:

Dr Jeremiah Chakaya, Executive Secretary and Technical Advisor, KAPTLD in Nairobi, Kenya
Cecile Macé, ADF Coordinator, The Union in Paris, France
Jorge Alday, Technical Advisor, World Lung Foundation in New York, United States

About The Union

The mission of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) is to bring innovation, expertise, solutions and support to address health challenges in low- and middle-income populations. Founded in 1920, The Union today is both a non-profit institute with five scientific departments and 14 offices worldwide and a federation of close to 3,000 organizations and individuals who are committed to the same goals. The Union headquarters are in Paris, and offices serve the Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, North America and South-East Asia regions. Its scientific departments focus on tuberculosis, HIV, lung health and non-communicable diseases, tobacco control and research; and each engages in research, provides technical assistance and offers training and other capacity-building activities leading to health solutions for the poor.

To learn more about The Union, please visit www.theunion.org/
To learn more about the Asthma Drug Facility (ADF), please visit http://www.GlobalADF.org

About World Lung Foundation

World Lung Foundation was established in response to the global epidemic of lung disease, which kills 10 million people each year. The organization also works on maternal and infant mortality reduction initiatives. WLF improves global health by improving local health capacity, by supporting operational research, by developing public policy and by delivering public education. The organization's areas of emphasis are tobacco control, maternal and infant mortality prevention, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, asthma, and child lung health. For more information, please visit worldlungfoundation.org

About The Kenya Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease

The Kenya Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (KAPTLD) is a quasi professional organization that is led by chest medicine specialists but whose membership is open to other health professionals and lay persons. The vision of this organization is the elimination and control of lung diseases that pose a public health threat to Kenyans. The mission of the organization is to improve access to and quality of respiratory health services so as to achieve the best possible outcomes for patients with respiratory diseases. The association has identified asthma, acute community acquired respiratory infections, occupational lung diseases and tobacco related lung diseases as the priority diseases. KAPTLD works with others to train health care workers, provide in country technical support, promote research and advocate for lung health in Kenya.

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For more information, please contact:
Paris:
Cecile Macé, ADF Coordinator, The Union
+ 33 1 44 32 03 75 or cmace@theunion.org

New York:
Jorge Alday, World Lung Foundation
+1 (646) 354 8922 or jalday@worldlungfoundation.org

Nairobi:
Dr Jeremiah Chakaya, Executive Secretary, KAPTLD
+254 20 359 7094 or +254 733 61 89 86 or +254 721 694 484