A Healthy Lungs for Life awareness event promoting the use of spirometry testing for the diagnosis and monitoring of chronic lung disease took place in Kenya last week.
Taking place in Nairobi, alongside the annual Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS) Congress on 9–12 April, 2016, the event was supported by the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and European Lung Foundation (ELF) and focussed on offering training to health professionals through information sessions and practical workshops.
The sessions covered an overview of spirometry alongside detailed information relating to hygiene and infection considerations, the indications and contraindications in preparing for spirometry and procedure demonstrations. The practical workshops supported these topics; offering hands on calibration and procedure workshops, as well as data validation and case studies for interpretation.
Healthcare workers from PATS, the National TB and Lung Disease Unit of the Ministry of Health (KAPTLD), the Nairobi County Department of Health and other partnering health organisations in Nairobi also contributed to the event, where a total of 32 professionals benefitted from the sessions.
ERS and ELF were pleased to support the event by providing spirometry testing equipment, which was partly funded by donations made by delegates attending last year’s European respiratory Congress in Amsterdam. We would like to thank delegates for their contributions.
Lindsay van der Linden, who is part of the ERS Spirometry Driving Licence team, said of the event: “I am very excited about what this will mean in assisting promoting lung health and the use of spirometry on this side of the world.”
Prof Andy Bush, who attended the event on behalf of the ERS thought the session was “Outstanding – with standing room only.”
This event is one of many Healthy Lungs for Life activities planned in 2016.