The scale of the problem of obstructive lung disease in Africa becomes clearer, but where are the solutions?
Tweetable abstract @ERSpublications
COPD is a common and important disease in rural Tanzania, and may relate to biomass smoke exposure http://ow.ly/MCv030hKe86
If you breathe in toxic air, lung damage will result. In much of sub-Saharan Africa as well as Asia, massive exposures to a range of toxic air from household air pollution, ambient air pollution and occupational exposures occur with consequent rising morbidity and mortality. The headline statistics are extraordinary: globally, in 2015, 2.8 people million died from household air pollution and 4.2 million people from ambient air pollution [1]. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is now the third leading cause of death, with 3.2 million deaths worldwide and the same number dying from lower respiratory tract infections [2]. The prevalence of COPD is rising inexorably in Africa [3] but do we really understand the roots of rising tide of COPD and its relationship to air pollution?
In a carefully conducted survey in rural Tanzania, the prevalence of spirometrically defined COPD was 17% (22% in men, 13% in women) [4]. This figure was strikingly similar to a similar survey in neighbouring Uganda, which found a prevalence of 16% [5]. This study is welcome because previous estimates in Africa are variable and lack harmonisation of definitions [3, 6].
