As part of National Asthma Week, Moama Pharmacy staff hosted an asthma seminar on Wednesday, September 4.
The seminar, held in partnership with the Zoe Kennedy foundation and the Moama Bowling Club, aimed to raise awareness around all things to do with asthma.
Moama pharmacist Clint Flanigan was the MC on the night and guided the conversation between pharmacist and asthma educator Sherri Barden, clinical director of medicine and respiratory and general physician Dr Freya Hildebrand, board member of the Zoe Kennedy Foundation and medical advisor Dr Sam Kennedy and David Barker, who has lived with severe asthma and hay fever all his life.
Dr Hildebrand said many people were unaware they were living with asthma and highlighted some important messages.
“A lot of people are a lot more limited in their breathing than they realise; they may have had asthma that has been there for such a long time,” she said.
“If there could be one message [the attendees] take with them, it’s the importance of using inhalers correctly, having an asthma action plan and that there are a lot of treatment options so people don’t have to just suffer with it.”
The night opened with a discussion of the symptoms of asthma and how people can recognise them, its link to hayfever and how a diagnosis is made.
The speakers also covered triggers, thunderstorm asthma, treatment, medication use, management and control and first aid management.
Attendees had the chance to write down any asthma- or hayfever-related questions for the panel and were able to have them answered in the second half of the event.
Mr Barker also shared his story and how his life changed after being treated by Sherri Barden and Dr Sam Kennedy.
“I was diagnosed with asthma about one to two years old and suffered quite badly,” he said.
“I grew up in and out of hospital ... I needed a better life, I couldn’t keep going how I was.
“Thanks to Sam and Sherri, they have put me on to better medicines and I haven’t had an attack for almost two years.”
Representatives from the Zoe Kennedy Foundation were also present in support of the event.
The Zoe Kennedy Foundation has raised over $400,000 since its inception in 2020.
The foundation has special ties with the Moama area, as Dr Sam Kennedy is Zoe Kennedy’s uncle.
For more information on National Asthma Week, visit www.nationalasthma.org.au/