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The Head of the Department of Child Health at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Prof. Bamenla Goka, has called on school authorities to exempt students with asthma from cleaning the blackboard and sweeping the school compound or classrooms. According to Prof. Goka, this is to prevent such students from suffering frequent asthma attacks. �Children with asthma have a body system which is so sensitive that they pick attacks easily. Anything that exposes them to dust can trigger an attack. It is, therefore, important that such children do not involve themselves in things that expose them to dust,� she explained. Prof. Goka, who gave the advice in an interview, further asked parents whose children had asthma to make that known to school authorities and where medical reports were needed, she advised them to contact the hospitals for them. �Students who have asthma should not feel ashamed about their condition because it is not their fault. Rather, they need to let their friends know about it so that they can assist when they suffer any attack,� she said. Prof. Goka added that children with asthma should take their medication and immediately inform their parents and teachers anytime they were about to have an attack. Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways of individuals which makes breathing difficult and often has symptoms that include coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. Prof. Goka said at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, asthma was among the top 10 causes of admissions at the emergency unit of the Department of Child Health. She mentioned that what could increase the risk of a child developing asthma was a family history of asthma, being born premature, allergic conditions among family members, early introduction to baby milk formulas and viral infections. She said asthma treatment was expensive adding that the condition could be treated but was not preventable. According to Prof. Goka, to reduce the frequency of asthma attacks, children with the condition should not engage in exercises in dusty conditions adding that swimming and table tennis were some of the safest sporting activities they could engage in. �Exposure to dusty conditions, common cold, cockroach droppings could increase the frequency of attacks,� she added.