Francis Burnett, who heads the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States’ Pharmaceutical Procurement Unit, demonstrates how to properly use an asthma inhaler during a meeting Friday evening. Photo: CHRYSTALL KANYUCK

Being breathless may be a romantic metaphor for many, but for the roughly 13 percent of the Caribbean population with asthma the problem is quite literal, and it can be life threatening.

Francis Burnett, who heads the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States’ Pharmaceutical Procurement Unit, demonstrates how to properly use an asthma inhaler during a meeting Friday evening. Photo: CHRYSTALL KANYUCK
Like other chronic diseases, asthma can’t be cured. Instead, patients must learn to keep it under control, explained Francis Burnett, who heads the Organisation for Eastern Caribbean States’ Pharmaceutical Procurement Unit.

Taking medication properly is a key component of managing the disease, which causes inflammation of the airways and leads to symptoms of wheezing, shortness of breath, and tightness in the chest. Unfortunately, Mr. Burnett said, many asthma patients don’t use their inhalers properly.

At a meeting for asthma patients in Road Town on Friday, Mr. Burnett asked three volunteers from the meeting to demonstrate how they use their inhalers. Each volunteer had a slightly different strategy, but they had one thing in common: They were all doing it wrong.

Mr. Burnett demonstrated the correct method several times. Rather than put the inhaler into his mouth as many patients do, he said the best way to make sure the medication inside reaches the airways is to hold the inhaler out about two inches away from the mouth while dispensing the medication.

See the March 13, 2014 edition for full coverage. 

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