Kenya Spur Afrika 2021 - Asthma spacers
When first visiting the Kibera (Nairobi) informal settlement in 2016 with the Spur Afrika team, I noticed, together with Dr Victor Hui, that “no wonder so many kids complain about sore eyes, our eyes are hurting too!”.
There is significant air pollution in the informal settlements (slums) of Nairobi, in part due to slow-moving traffic, but also due to burning rubbish, nearby industry and the widespread use of dirty fuels for cooking indoors.
Not surprisingly, with this much air pollution, many children we see in Nairobi also suffer with cough and feeling out of breath when trying to run, or even when sleeping. This might possibly affect young girls more, as they are more likely to be close to a cooking stove.
In part, the solution might lie in the use of asthma medication (such as is used with the ‘spacer’ devices pictured). Also important would be better housing conditions, equitable access to cleaner cooking technologies/fuels and less-gendered divisions of labour.
David Fong
Lead doctor, Kensington site, coHealth
My interests include sustainable development in low-resource populations, teaching and the uses of monitoring and evaluation in clinical practice.