The Amaka Chiwuike-Uba Foundation (ACUF), an NGO, has urged Nigerians, especially government at all levels, to checkmate factors promoting environmental pollution leading to children’s asthmatic attacks.
The Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Foundation, Prof. Chiwuike Uba, made the call on Tuesday in Enugu while speaking to newsmen on Asthma and Children suffering the disease.
Uba spoke ahead of the World Asthma Day held annually, every first Tuesday within the month of May, with the theme “Access to Anti-inflammatory Inhalers for Everyone With Asthma, Still An Urgent Need.”
He noted that the asthma burden in the country had been compounded for children suffering the disease, whose immune systems are weak and with a fragile respiratory system, due to environmental pollution. According to him, across many Nigerian cities, air quality is deteriorating due to vehicle emissions, generator fumes, industrial pollutants, open waste burning, and dust.
The chairman said that indoor air pollution from generators and kerosene use further worsens exposure for asthma patients, especially infants and children, in densely populated settlements. Uba noted that for people living with asthma, polluted air is not just an inconvenience, “it is a trigger”.
He said, “It increases the frequency and severity of asthma attacks, undermines treatment effectiveness, and places an additional burden on already vulnerable patients.
“Children are particularly at risk. Exposure to polluted air in homes, schools, and communities worsens respiratory health, increases school absenteeism, and heightens the likelihood of severe asthma episodes. Managing asthma effectively in such an environment becomes significantly more difficult, especially when preventive medications are already out of reach for many families.
“Nowhere is this more tragic than among children, who bear a disproportionate burden of asthma in Nigeria,” Uba said that frequent asthma attacks in children disrupt schooling, limit physical activity, and in severe cases, cut lives short.
“A child who cannot breathe cannot learn. A child who is constantly ill cannot thrive. And a generation that cannot thrive cannot build a prosperous nation,” he said. The chairman said that there was a direct link between the health of children and the prosperity of any nation.
He said that healthy children attend school consistently, learn effectively, and develop the capacity to contribute meaningfully to society as well as grow into a productive workforce that drives economic growth.
