New study aims to help schoolchildren living with asthma

University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Head of Paediatrics, Professor Refiloe Masekela is a researcher on a new study aimed at improving the lives of asthmatic schoolchildren in Africa. The £2 million research project led by Queen Mary University of London will be conducted in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Malawi and Zimbabwe, and in each country will involve 3,000 children aged between 12 and 14 years old who have symptoms of asthma.

Masekela says asthma related deaths in South Africa remains very high, “South Africa is in the top ten countries experiencing a high prevalence of asthma deaths, this despite us having excellent asthma treatment in the Essential Medicines List. This study will seek to look at factors that impact asthma control and adherence in school going adolescent children. The outcome of this will inform future strategies and interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality among affected children in Africa.”

Together with a research team, Masekela will conduct surveys in a sample of schools in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. She will assess asthma control and treatment, attitudes to asthma, and the barriers to achieving good control. The team will use the new data to design and test a school-based intervention, which will include the adaption of an existing theatre performance, written by Nigerian-born playwright Tunde Euba, which addresses stigma around asthma. The intervention might also include education on the proper use of medication as well as tools to improve compliance to treatment. In addition, she will also investigate the prevalence of allergies and factors impacting / worsening existing medical conditions, e.g. eczema.

Recent surveys have found that over 20 per cent of South African schoolchildren aged 13 to 14 have ongoing asthma symptoms, and the number of school children in Africa with asthma has increased by over 15 million since 1990*. But to date, there has been a lack of evidence to tackle the issue.

Lead researcher, Professor Jonathan Grigg, from Queen Mary’s Blizard Institute, argues that this increase can be attributed to urbanisation. He said:  “The number of children in sub-Saharan Africa who live in urban areas is rapidly increasing. “These children are developing diseases of urbanisation such as asthma. However, very little is known about the severity of asthma in African children.” Working with leading paediatricians across Africa, this grant will allow us to describe the burden of asthma in children, and the reasons underlying poor asthma control.”

The project is funded by the UK Government’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) for a three year period. The research in KZN is expected to begin in September this year.

The project will also involve Kwame Nkrumah University College of Health Sciences in Ghana, Lagos State University College of Medicine in Nigeria, Makerere University in Uganda, Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome (MLW) Trust Clinical Research Programme in Malawi, and the University of Zimbabwe.

Source University of KwaZulu-Natal