10-20 pc Pakistani children suffering from Asthma: Dr Mosavir Ansarie

Macter’s MedWatch Media Workshop addressed by Dr Mosavir Ansarie, Dr Nadeem Rizvi, Dr Sharf Ali Shah, Dr Iftekhar Ahmed, Dr Asmat Ara, Dr Shahina Qayyum and Dr Zakiuddin Ahmed

Karachi – “Asthma is a global problem with an estimated 300 million affected individuals across the globe. In Pakistan Approximately 10 million people visit hospitals every year with symptoms of asthma while the prevalence of asthma symptoms in Pakistani children is between 10 to 20 percent”. Dr Mosavir Ansarie, President of Pakistan Chest Society Sindh, observed this while addressing a media workshop organized by Macter’s MedWatch Forum in collaboration with Pakistan Chest Society here on Friday.

Dr Mosavir said that children with parents or siblings having allergies are more prone to suffer from asthma. He informed that symptoms of asthma can be controlled by appropriate treatment and asthmatics may not need to change their life style. Environmental pollution, not diet, is the major factor contributing to episodes of asthma, he clarified.

Problems specific in Pakistani patients, he informed, are denial and evasion of the diagnosis, dislike of inhalers, and fear of all forms of steroids. He revealed that inhaled corticosteroids are the front line treatment modality for controlling asthma and most of the deaths were observed in patients who were not taking inhaled steroids.

Dr Nadeem Rizvi, speaking at the occasion, stated that the incidence of tuberculosis in Pakistan is 181 per hundred thousand, while smear positive cases, having ten times more chances of spreading the infection, has an incidence of 82 per hundred thousand.

Discussing about the menace of Multi Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB), he informed that this type of TB, which is difficult and expensive to treat, is becoming common in our society. He informed that 3.4 percent of the new cases of TB are of MDR-TB while in old cases with erratic treatment its prevalence is as high as 36.5 percent.

For prevention and control of TB, Dr Nadeem recommended for appropriate screening, diagnosis and treatment of the affected individuals, as it is a communicable disease.

Dr Nadeem informed the media that International Conference on Lung Diseases and Tuberculosis/HIV, organized by Pakistan Chest Society in collaboration with Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases (DUHS), National TB Control Program and Bridge Consultants Foundation, would be held on 21st and 22nd February, at hotel Pearl Continental, Karachi.

Dr Sharaf Ali Shah, talking to media, stated that HIV in Pakistan is a ‘concentrated epidemic’ with soaring prevalence in high-risk groups. He informed that it is estimated that 30 percent of the intravenous drug abusers and 27 percent of eunuch are affected by HIV.

Dr Asmat Ara, Director – Provincial TB Control Program, termed TB as a national problem and urged for collective and collaborative efforts by every segment of the society to control this disease.

Dr Shahina Qayyum, stated that 3 million people in the Pakistan are suffering from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and its incidence is increasing in the country. Smoking is a major cause of COPD, she informed. She urged that measures like, health education, banning smoking at public places, tax imposition on tobacco, and use of alternative fuel sources should be taken. She informed that rural women were also affected by COPD due to use of biomass fuel in poorly ventilated rooms.

Dr Iftekhar Ahmed, Director – Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases, stated that cigarette smoking is a silent killer as it contains more than 4000 chemicals out of which approximately 250 are toxic and at least 50 were found to cause cancer. Trend of cigarette smoking is rising in Pakistan, he informed, despite of ban especially in young students. He urged all the segments of society to adopt appropriate and collaborated measures to combat the situation and fight against this menace.

Dr Zakiuddin Ahmed, Medical Director – Macter International, highlighting the aims and objectives of MedWatch Forum stated that it is aimed at creating awareness among the general public about health-related issues by capacity-building of the health journalists and providing them a platform to interact with the eminent doctors of the country.