Asthma. It’s a not so uncommon disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 1 out of every 13 people in the United States have asthma, which is about 8.3% of the U.S. population., or 26 million people (2017 data). 1.1 people out of every 100,000 people died from asthma related causes in 2017 in the United States. I don’t have firm numbers on the prevalence of asthma in Haiti but assume that it is similar to that in the United States, possibly worse in cities where there is no pollution control. The prevalence seems to be higher in African Americans, so possibly it is higher in Haiti. The WHO published data from 2017 that stated there were 1034 deaths related to asthma in Haiti during the year 2017, which is 12.94 deaths per 100,000 people. I suspect this number is lower than the actual number of deaths related to asthma as many asthma patients probably don’t make it to a hospital before dying and therefore may not be included in this statistic.

We have a number of patients with asthma who receive treatment at our clinic. We have had significant trouble finding steroid inhalers in Haiti, which can be very important for controlling the disease and preventing permanent damage to the lungs. Some of these patients develop asthma exacerbations multiple times a year. Their lung exams are horrible- sometimes I do not understand how they were able to walk to clinic because it does not seem like their lungs are moving air at all- there are no breath sounds when they take in a breath and exhale. The exam will typically improve after an albuterol treatment- then I can hear loud wheezing but at least I can hear something! Lung exams will typically normalize with steroids and albuterol, but I suspect their lung function is not normal. We recently were able to purchase some steroid inhalers from Blessings International and are hoping to provide consistent treatment for these asthma patients. I am very excited and hopeful that the number of asthma exacerbations that we see in clinic will drop dramatically this year. Please pray with us for this outcome.