Asthma Chat Connects Kids From Almaty to Tucson

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Aian Nugmanov, a 13-year-old boy who lives in Almaty, Kazakstan, knows what it's like to gasp for breath on a day when the skies are smoggy or he's in a smoky room. He hates it when his asthma sidelines him from after-school games. Nine thousand miles away, in Tucson, Arizona, 12-year-old Scott Holmes suffers from similar symptoms.

The two boys and 11 other children, ages 9-14, were able to discuss the challenges of asthma and tips for managing their disease during an internet "asthma chat" arranged by the Almaty-Tucson partnership.

During the chat, the children asked questions like: "When you play sports, do you wheeze?" or "What type of inhaler do you use?" Each child's answers were displayed on a large screen with accompanying photographs so that participants at each site could view them.

"This is a health issue our two communities share," said Emily Jenkins, project director for the Tucson/Almaty Health Care Coalition. "Asthma is a very big problem in Tucson; more children are dying of asthma here than they were five years ago. In Kazakstan, respiratory disease is the leading cause of death of kids in the first few years of life."

A transcript of the chat is available on the Tucson/Almaty Health Care Coalition web site at:
http://www.ahsc.arizona.edu/asthma_chat/asthma.html

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