Confidential student asthma registry reopens
Parents are being encouraged to register their children who have asthma on the 2024-25 Bermuda Student Asthma Registry.
The registry enables local asthma healthcare providers, as well as the education and health ministries, to track and ensure proper supports are in place for students with the condition.
The registry, which is accessible online, is updated annually as health, school, address, contact details and other information of young people may have changed. The data provided is strictly confidential.
It is a collaborative effort between the Department of Education, the Department of Health, Bermuda Hospitals Boards’ Asthma Education Centre and the charity, Open Airways.
Kim Wilson, the Minister of Health, said: “The goal is to improve and assist students with asthma to have the healthiest year possible.”
She added: “Parents are asked to submit their information each September to ensure accuracy as the health, school and contact details of students can change.
“Registering annually also allows our asthma specialists to afford the most up-to-date assessment of students with asthma.”
Below are statistics provided by the Ministry of Health from the 2023-24 Student Asthma Registry
• More than 58 per cent of all students with asthma missed days off school. A student with controlled asthma should not miss any days off school, the ministry said.
• Approximately 7 per cent of students with asthma were admitted to hospital in the year, due to the condition.
• While 67 per cent of students with asthma believed their condition was ‘well controlled’, 50 per cent of those students missed days off school due to asthma, an indication that their asthma is not well controlled.
• A third of students were either using their spacer, a small asthma control device, incorrectly or did not have a spacer at all.
Lindsay Bishop, director of education at Open Airways, said: “Students who have had asthma education and have discussed new guidelines with their doctors, have the best inhalers and are using optimal technique, should be able to participate in all school and sporting activities.”
The 2023-24 Student Asthma Registry has 630 students listed.
Debbie Barboza, the BHB and health department asthma nurse educator, said: “Our collaborative team of health providers is working with the primary aim of ensuring every child with asthma receives the proper guidance and assistance they need to have a healthy and successful school year.”
• For further information about the registry, contact Mary Ellen Ewles at mary@openairways.com
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