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Asthma Treatment Guidelines in Six Months

DUBAI - The UAE is expected to come out with guidelines to manage asthma treatment and diagnosis within six months, according to a senior health official. The guidelines are also expected to be unified at the GCC level at a
later stage.

The guidelines will be based on those outlined by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) which is one of the founding participants in the World Health Organisation’s Global Alliance Against Chronic Respiratory
Diseases (GARD).

Dr Bassam Mahboub, local expert and vice-president of the UAE Respiratory Society, said that the GINA guidelines would be adapted locally. “The UAE guidelines are expected to be in place within six months after an expert panel endorses them,” he said, adding that the GCC-wide guidelines should also be in place within a year.

GINA’s guidelines for treatment of asthma (Global Strategy for Asthma Management and Prevention) contain details and management advice for specific age groups including children and the elderly. It also identifies approach to diagnosis, measures for assessing severity and monitoring control, responses to different classes of medications, techniques for engaging with the patient and his/her family in establishing and maintaining a treatment plan, and the psychosocial challenges presented at different stages of life.

According to Dr Mahboub, the guidelines were important in the region due to the increase in numbers of people with asthma and allergies, the huge costs incurred in managing the disease and the different treatment methods being used. Quoting UAE figures for an unpublished GCC-wide study, Dr Mahboub said that the disease was uncontrolled in less than 65 per cent of the patients while 80 per cent did not have a proper education on the best ways to manage their condition.

The study was held in 2007-2008 among 200 asthma patients, both adults and youngsters. “Based on this preliminary study, we are in the process of setting up an initiative with the local health authorities to establish proper educational methods for the public and health providers,” said Dr Mahboub.

A recently held international conference on allergies, the Middle East-Asia Allergy Asthma Immunology Congress (MEAAAIC) concluded that at least 14.9 per cent children in the UAE suffer from allergic rhinitis, 13 per cent from asthma and 11 per cent from
skin allergies.

Professor Ruby Pawankar, treasurer of the World Allergy Organisation said that allergies (that trigger asthma) affect, on average, one in eight people across the MENA region. The experts say that the high prevalence of asthma among children in the UAE is particularly alarming, with one in five children in the UAE having the ailment brought on by changing lifestyles.

“For the 50 million people affected by allergies, the greatest financial burden falls on young working adults and their children, who end up paying half the associated costs,” warned adds Professor Pawankar.

“This news will be an urgent wake-up call to MENA governments to place allergic disease higher on its healthcare priorities, to invest heavily in training and research, and ease the financial burden on allergic patients,” said Dr Mahboub.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com

Asthma attacks

υ Asthma results from a partial closing of the airways of the lungs. The main symptoms are wheezing and shortness of breath. Pollens, house dust, exercise, infection, weather changes, and stress can trigger asthma attacks

υ Skin allergies, such as contact rashes and eczema, affect the skin. Certain foods may also cause a person to have allergic symptoms. Common causes could be fish, eggs, milk, nuts, and wheat. Symptoms include diarrhoea, eczema, headaches, asthma, and noise irritation

Control your asthma

υ Today is a World Asthma Day. Activities on this day are aimed at improving asthma awareness and care around the world

υ This year’s theme is You Can Control Your Asthma’. The Department of Health and Medical Services will hold several activities for patients and public including providing health education on bronchial asthma through distribution of leaflets and demonstration of
inhaler techniques