JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 5, 2021/ -- World
Asthma Day theme is ‘Uncovering Asthma Misconceptions’, challenging
long-held misconceptions that prevent people with asthma from enjoying
optimal benefit from the advances in the management of asthma; In
Africa, it is estimated that over 40 million people are living with
asthma; AstraZeneca’s Africa PUMUA Initiative (www.AstraZeneca.com) is
a collaboration with Ministries of Health, local health providers,
healthcare societies and respiratory health experts to redefine asthma
care in Africa
To mark World Asthma Day (WAD) on the 5th
of May, Global Pharmaceutical Company AstraZeneca officially opened and
handed over the first PUMUA nebulisation stations across 4 countries:
Kenya, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Ethiopia. The nebulisation stations, the
first of the targeted 1000 to be implemented this year, are part of
AstraZeneca’s Africa PUMUA Initiative, meaning ‘breathe’ in Swahili.
The
Africa PUMUA Initiative looks at addressing the barriers currently
preventing access to care for patients with asthma. It was designed in
consultation and collaboration with Ministries of Health, local health
providers, healthcare societies and respiratory health experts to
strengthen local health systems and centres to improve paediatric and
adult asthma management across both the public and private sectors.
The theme of the World Asthma Day event this year, organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma, (GINA), is ‘Uncovering Asthma Misconceptions’,
providing a call to action to address common widely held myths and
misconceptions concerning asthma that prevent people living with asthma
from enjoying optimal benefit from the major advances in the management
of asthma. In Africa, it is estimated that over 40 million people are
living with asthma [II] and the World Health Organisation (WHO) cautions
that over 80% of asthma-related deaths occur in low-and lower-middle
income countries [III]. This figure highlights the importance and
urgency of ensuring that those at risk of or who are living with asthma
have timely access to healthcare services, such as appropriate
diagnosis, a direct link to care and reliable access to quality
treatments to achieve control. This lies at the heart of the Africa
PUMUA Initiative, which contributes to this effort by partnering with
and supporting local health stakeholders and health systems in Africa
Barbara Nel,
AstraZeneca Country President for African Cluster said: “This World
Asthma Day, we’re joining the respiratory community across the globe in
challenging long-held misconceptions around asthma to drive the
prioritisation that is needed to deliver better outcomes for people
living with this disease. We are delighted to mark this important week
in the respiratory calendar with the kick-off for installations of
nebulisation stations and nebulisation machines in four countries across
the continent as part of our Africa PUMUA Initiative. By joining forces
with the Ministry of Health, respiratory societies and our other
partners, we can achieve results that go beyond what any individual
stakeholder can achieve. This is the value of public-private
partnerships, with the patient at the centre.”
[I] Estimate of the prevalence of asthma in Africa https://bit.ly/3ekdofV last accessed 13 October 2020
[II] Estimate of the prevalence of asthma in Africa https://bit.ly/3ekdofV last accessed 13 October 2020
[III]
Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived
with disability for 328 diseases and injuries for 195 countries,
1990–2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study
2016. Lancet 2017; 390: 1211–59 https://bit.ly/33jHMk2.
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