PATS at ACACIA study launch

PATS recently attended the launch of the ACACIA study in Durban, South Africa in May 2019.

The Achieving Control of Asthma in Children in Africa (ACACIA) launch meeting took place at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu Natal on 13 May 2019. The study, which received £2 million funding from the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), is led by Queen Mary University of London in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu Natal. 

Little is known about asthma in children in Africa or about what children with asthma know about their condition and about any treatment they may have been given. Yet asthma is an increasing problem.

The ACACIA study is being carried out in schools in 6 African countries; South Africa, Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ghana and Nigeria. The aim and purpose of this research is to identify children between the ages of 13 and 14 years with asthma symptoms, and determine their symptom control in relation to their health knowledge and attitudes and related environmental risk factors.  The study is expected to enroll 3,000 participants from the participating countries.

At the end of the study the ACACIA team intends to develop and assess an appropriate school based intervention aimed at addressing the challenges and issues found to be associated with symptom control in the participants.  

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The launch meeting was attended by Prof Jonathan Grigg (Queen Mary University of London), Prof Refiloe Masekela (University of KwaZulu Natal); Ben Llewellyn-Jones (Deputy High Commissioner of the United Kingdom); Prof Ncoza Dlova (Dean of Clinical Medicine, UKZN) as well as attendees interested in asthma in Africa.