MLW’s Lung Health Research Group through its Achieving Control of Asthma in Children in Africa (ACACIA) Study team, some of its study participants and parents, had media appearances throughout the month of May to increase awareness of Asthma, to dispel asthma misconceptions, and to share with the public about ACACIA study. The team also made use of social media, Twitter, and Facebook to raise asthma awareness and share about the Asthma research done here at MLW.
“COVID-19 has forced us all to be creative and come up with new ways of doing things. This was the case with commemorating World Asthma Day (WAD) 2021 and Asthma Awareness month 2021.
With help from MLW hiking group, ACACIA study organized a hiking event at Soche Mountain with an asthmatic hiker Mtheto Hara to uncover the misconception that people with asthma cannot/should not participate in sports or other physical activities. Despite the restrictions and challenges of 2021, ACACIA team had a successful public engagement campaign around WAD2021 and are fired up to making WAD2022 bigger and better and they hope you will all join them,” said Mkutumula.
This year WAD was commemorated on Wednesday May 5th. Globally, the month of May is also set aside as asthma awareness month. The theme for WAD2021 is “Uncovering Asthma Misconceptions”, a fitting challenge in a year when disinformation is rampant. Due to Covid19 prevention measures, commemoration of WAD 2021 for the ACACIA Team like many others across the world, was mainly through mainstream and social media. Access to accurate information is an important piece in proper management of chronic diseases including Asthma.
WAD is commemorated worldwide on the first Tuesday of May each year.
