Child Asthma - Prevalence, Interventions and Evaluation

Running head: CHILD ASTHMA
Child Asthma
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

CHILD ASTHMA 2
Child Asthma
Introduction
Childhood asthma describes a medical condition in which the airway of a child
narrows causing symptoms such as breathing and difficulty in breathing (Gana and
Fitzgerald, 2018). The global prevalence is 1 in 10 children. The prevalence in Australia
is one of the highest. Although asthma is a chronic illness, appropriate care greatly
improves the quality of life. The presentation will mainly focus on the situation in
Australia. This work will be concerned with asthma in children. Specifically, the
following issues will be addressed: the background, what is being done, some important
statistics and evaluation of the success of the interventions.
Background/Context
Globally, about one in every 10 children are diagnosed with asthma. Whereas
asthma affects both adults and children, it is more common in infants and young children
(Chu and Bhimji, 2017). The prevalence of childhood asthma in Australia remains to be
one of the highest in the world. Whereas asthma attacks could be life threatening, early
detection and appropriate care greatly improves the quality of life and reduces
complications (Maxfield and Peter, 2014). Asthma has been classified as the most
common chronic medical condition affecting infants and young children. An estimated
20.8% of children aged 0-15 years have ever been diagnosed with asthma at a point in
their lifetime (Asher and Pearce, 2014). 11.3% of the children in the age group
mentioned above experience asthma currently. Extensive research indicates that child
asthma has reached a plateau in Australia since the 1980s and early 1990s. The reasons
for this have not yet been identified.

CHILD ASTHMA 3
There are several factors that may predispose an infant/child to asthma. These
include a family history of the condition and when the mother smokes during pregnancy.
Several factors can trigger asthma attacks. These include: exposure to such allergens as
pollen, environmental irritants such as cigarette smoke, strong smells or other forms of air
pollution. There are several symptoms that are observed/associated with asthma in
children. These include difficulty in breathing, coughing which especially happens at
night or when stimulated by cold weather, allergies and wheezing (this is a very common
symptom and refers to production of a characteristic sound when breathing. This is
usually because of narrowed airway which causes difficulty in breathing.)
Interventions
Healthcare is always a key area of priority in any modern government. The role of
offering adequate health care to citizens is usually primarily the role of the government.
As already seen, asthma in children is an important medical condition in Australia. Due to
this, there are several interventions that are being carried out by the government and other
players to ensure that asthma is efficiently and effectively managed. Some of these
interventions are going to be discussed next.
One of the interventions is the development of the National Asthma Council of
Australia. The council is mandated to deal with the issues revolving around asthma
(Becker, 2014). Development of the body has gone a long way in ensuring that both
children and adults who suffer from asthma live comfortably and have quality life. The
council has developed action plan for asthma patients. These plans detail what should be
done in case of an asthma diagnosis, asthma attack or asthma complications. With the
action plans, it has become easier to manage asthma and complications associated with it.