Schooling and Nigerian Children with Asthma: A Review of Challenges, Risk and Prospects.

Abstract

Epidemiologic studies have reported increasing prevalence of childhood asthma in Nigeria and other developing countries where there are parallel increases in school enrolments. Children with asthma face lots of challenges in school which can affect their academic performance and quality of life. This narrative review highlights the challenges and the risks of schooling encountered by Nigerian children with asthma and the prospects of utilizing the School Health Programme (SHP) to overcome these challenges. An electronic search of relevant published articles from 2000 to 2020 was carried out using appropriate search engines for the following words: "schooling", "childhood asthma", "school health programme", "school environment," "health instructions", "school health services" and "asthma care in schools". The challenges and risks the school age asthmatics encounter in school include discrimination and victimization, exposure to triggers on the road and in the school environment, poor and non-existence asthma care services in schools, suboptimal knowledge of teachers and caregivers about childhood asthma hence poor asthma-related instructions and increased school absenteeism. The prospects of SHP as a tool to overcome these challenges are highlighted. These include the roles expected to be played by all stakeholders - the government and education authorities need to revise and more effectively implement the school health policy. The roles of asthma care professionals include the need to "adopt" schools to ensure optimal asthma care for the school population and the all-important enlightenment of teachers, school health workers, parents/caregivers and school children for overall improved asthma care delivery in Nigerian schools.