TY - JOUR T1 - Spirometry: coming of age in Africa JF - Breathe JO - Breathe SP - 205 LP - 208 DO - 10.1183/20734735.010916 VL - 12 IS - 3 AU - Lindsay Zurba Y1 - 2016/09/01 UR - http://breathe.ersjournals.com/content/12/3/205.abstract N2 - Africa is a continent of challenges. It is also a continent of positive change. It isn’t easy getting up at 4 am to get ready for a day helping hundreds in a rural clinic. It isn’t easy being the decision maker allocating resources to make key work possible, given the complex demands on government and corporate finances. My African experience tells me that there are yet many rivers to cross, but we are making progress together. For me, there is no job that is more rewarding than helping so many to achieve a higher quality of health, longer lives and greater confidence: seeing a child encumbered by debilitating asthma freed and living a healthy life, or a group of healthcare professionals inspired and using spirometry for the first time, making considerable change to the care they deliver. It takes a network of teams to make it happen. My professional life parallels the growth of spirometry and respiratory health in Africa, and in sharing, I want to give you an insight into this important part of African diagnostic healthcare.A personal journey paralleling the growth of spirometry and spirometry training development in Africa http://ow.ly/kgCl3028nQfThe author would like to acknowledge Michael van der Linden (Durban Lung Centre, Durban, South Africa), Karen Michell (Concept Safety Systems, Johannesburg, South Africa), Sonia Buist (Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA), Monica Fletcher, Christine Loveridge (both Education for Health, Warwick, UK).Reggie Stiglingh, Agatha Pretorius (both Occupational Care South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa), Stephen B. Gordon (Malawi Liverpool Wellcome Trust, Malawi), Kevin Mortimer (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK) and Jane Ardrey (BREATHE, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, UK) for their supportive role in my development and journey. ER -