CHENNAI: A team of respiratory physicians from Chennai will initiate screening measures for chest diseases for a cross-section of the Sri Lankan population at Colombo on Sunday.

Led by the Respiratory Research Foundation of India (RRFI) and supported by the Rotary Club of Madras North West, the initiative seeks to evaluate point prevalence rates of respiratory diseases, particularly asthma.

The Rotary Club of Colombo Central and Rotary Club of Wattala are also supporting the venture.

Inhalers therapy

"The RRFI will also create awareness on inhalers therapy, Directly Observed Treatment Short Course [the global regimen for tuberculosis] and smoking-related disorders such as Chronic Disease.

The focus of asthma management the world over is on the unmet needs of asthma. Good asthma control depends on identification of the triggers, use of steroid inhalers and their regular use," said R. Narasimhan, physician, Apollo Hospitals and chairman of RRFI.

RRFI's branching out comes in the context of reports that the global asthmatic population would increase by another 100 million from the current 300 million by the year 2025.

The RRFI team, which also includes respiratory physician Gayathri, will be joined in Colombo by a team of doctors from the Wellisara Hospital comprising Upali Munasinghe, Bandu Gunasena, W. Senaviratne and Mahinda Rajapaksha.

Optimising management

The chest diseases screening camp is being organised at Walisara Hospital. A seminar on optimising management of respiratory diseases is also scheduled at Apollo Hospitals in Colombo the same day.

"We will also look at continuing the collaboration with Colombo," Dr. Narasimhan said. This is the RRFI's first venture in another country. It has so far conducted around 95 awareness camps. These camps have also featured free pulmonary function tests and distribution of inhalers.

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