Allergic diseases, including asthma, allergic rhinitis, eczema, food allergies and anaphylaxis, are the most common chronic diseases overall in children. While a third of all South Africans suffer from allergic diseases during their life, 40% of allergy sufferers in South Africa are children. Living with a chronic allergic condition has a profound impact on children and their families; including regular illness and frequent hospital visits, to reduction in their quality of life, such as school absenteeism, non-participation and poor concentration, and if poorly managed, even unnecessary death.
Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital is the only centre in South Africa to provide a complete specialist allergy service for children and is the only allergy training centre in the country. Due to the high burden, the service is severely overloaded and demands outstrips supply. Waiting lists are long, impacting directly on the patient’s quality of care and control of their diseases.
The Allergy Programme was established in 2017 and stood to make an important contribution not only to the management of conditions, but to establishing a set of principles of how a service for chronic conditions in general should be provided across the health system.
The programme is closely aligned with the Children’s Hospital Trust’s priorities, including to support initiatives that strengthens health systems and improves the quality of care.
Professor Mike Levin heads the Division of Asthma and Allergy in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital. He teaches medical professionals, specialists and students that have a special interest in patient education and support. He is also the current CEO of the Allergy Foundation of South Africa, which advocates for additional services for children and adults with allergies in schools and in the public health service.
After years of hard work and dedication, Professor Levin has been awarded the 2020 International Distinguished Fellow Award to commemorate his valuable contributions to the Asthma and Allergy division in the medical field. This is a huge honour and a real tribute to the work that Professor Levin and his team at the Hospital has done.
The 2020 International Distinguished Fellow Award is presented to an individual who lives outside the United States and Canada and demonstrates an interest in American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) activities or has participated in one or more of its international endeavours.
Using a blended learning approach, the Allergy programme trains doctors and nurses from primary care facilities in Paediatric Allergy Care. 104 doctors, 54 nurses and 1 pharmacist completed training across 9 health facilities in the Metro. In 2019, 6 facilities have set up dedicated paediatric allergy clinics, each seeing on average 30 patients per month.
The Allergy Programme has trained over 250 healthcare workers in primary care facilities to provide basic services for all aspects of allergy care (diagnosis, prevention and basic treatment). This means children can quickly, easily and regularly access allergy care in their own neighbourhoods, thereby reducing the burden on tertiary services at the Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.
