KATHMANDU, JULY 8

In a bid to spread awareness about least heard but fatal and chronic disease called pulmonary hypertension, doctors and social workers organised a free health screening camp for children here in Kathmandu.

The Pulmonary Hypertension Association Nepal conducted the camp wherein over 400 school children of Shree Jana Uddhar Secondary School in Budhanilkantha underwent health check by 12 doctors.

Pulmonary hypertension is a medical condition when blood pressure at the pulmonary artery, the blood vessels leading from heart to lungs, is too high.

While pulmonary hypertension can be a disease in itself, many a time it is caused due to complication with other diseases mostly related to heart and lungs.

Pulmonary hypertension is different from regular hypertension (also known as high blood pressure) in that the former is related to high blood pressure in the lungs which makes the right side of the heart work harder while in high blood pressure the arteries throughout the body are constricted.

Pulmonary hypertension is a serious disease that causes a significant disability and early death. Despite being a rare disease, it affects a large number of people all over the world. Since Nepal is a developing country, patients with pulmonary hypertension are typically brought to the attention of a physician in the latter stages of the disease upon being previously misdiagnosed.

Dr Roshan Khatiwada, who conducted free health camp, said pulmonary hypertension in children is also equally common as in adults. 'Kids perform physical activities while participating in sports that can sometimes show the symptoms of pulmonary hypertension such as having trouble breathing, feeling tired easily, having chest pain, among others. Physical activities like sports give us a chance to notice these symptoms early on. That's why, we can get help and treatment sooner,' he said.

He further said, 'In Nepal, the identification of the disease is more rare as it requires sophisticated medical equipment and has to be done by cardiologists.

These facilities are available only around major urban cities. Thus, the need of pre-identification of the disease in childhood is very important so that we can reach the root cause of the problem and treat it.'

Pranav N Shrestha, Youth Ambassador of All-4-Ball said that supports people suffuring from pulmonary hypertension through health camps,. 'Each child with pulmonary hypertension may have different needs depending on the severity of their condition. It's important to get early diagnosis and work closely with doctors who can understand the needs of each child, give advice on safe sports participation and decide if any changes or limits are necessary.'

PHA Nepal has been conducting pulmonary hypertension health screen school camp in various parts of the country since 2018. Their study of over 9,000 children between the age of 6 to 17 years showed that around 9 per cent of children suffer from pulmonary hypertension.

Pulmonary hypertension is highly prevalent among children who suffer from some heart defects such as having hole in heart and people that are HIV positive and other respiratory illnesses.

A version of this article appears in the print on July 9, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.