Dr Sheila Asamoah Okyere, Pediatrician at the 37 Military Hospital recieves the nebulizer from Barbara Nel, Country President of AstraZeneca African Cluster. On the right is Mawuli Atiemo, AstraZeneca Country Lead - Ghana.

AstraZeneca hands over PUMUA nebulisation stations to 37, UoG hospitals

Graphic Online Health Jul - 14 - 2021 , 17:19

Global pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has officially opened and handed over the 2nd and 3rd PUMUA nebulisation stations in Greater Accra at the 37 Military Teaching Hospital and at the University of Ghana Hospital, Legon respectively.

The nebulisation stations are part of AstraZeneca's Africa PUMUA Initiative that aims to redefine asthma care and highlights AstraZeneca's commitment to improving the health outcomes of asthma patients.

Since commencement of the rollout of PUMUA nebulisation stations on World Asthma Day on 5th May, 2021, the initiative has opened 30 nebulisation stations at 10 facilities in Ghana.

According to Dr Emmanuel Abbeyquaye Parbie, Head of Department of Paediatrics at the 37 Military Hospital, "These new ultra-modern nebulization booths will definitely bring fresh breath to our children with asthma and other related illnesses that will have need for them. On behalf of Hospital Command and the Department, we are very grateful to the AstraZeneca Africa PUMUA Initiative, the Ghana Health Services (GHS) and Ghana Thoracic Society (GTS) for this programme."

AstraZeneca donates nebulisers to Ho, Cape Coast Teaching hospitals

In Africa, it is estimated that over 40 million people are living with asthma "and the World Health Organisation (WHO) cautions that over 80% of asthma-related deaths occur in low and lower-middle income countries.

The figure highlights the importance and urgency of ensuring that those at risk and those 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.

AstraZeneca Country President for African Cluster, Barbara Nel said: "We are firmly committed to redefining asthma care in Ghana, ensuring people with asthma enjoy optimal benefit from the major advances in asthma management. The donation of nebulisation stations, providing a dedicated area for nebulisation in hospitals, is part of the effort to support infrastructure build to optimise care. Working closely with all healthcare stakeholders we will continue to build awareness of the symptoms and risks of asthma, and boost medical knowledge and expertise of all role players along the patient journey. Together we can achieve results that go beyond what any individual stakeholder can achieve."

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines, primarily for the treatment of diseases in three therapy areas - Oncology, Cardiovascular, Renal & Metabolism, and Respiratory & Immunology. Based in Cambridge, UK, AstraZeneca operates in over 100 countries and its medicines are used by millions of patients worldwide.

The Africa PUMUA Initiative

The Africa PUMUA Initiative is AstraZeneca's programme committed to redefining Asthma care in Africa. Through partnership with governments, healthcare professionals and societies, and AstraZeneca, the Initiative aims to improve paediatric and adult asthma management across public and private sectors with a focus on:

Local health system strengthening
Health worker capacity building
Awareness and education
Equitable access to AstraZeneca's respiratory medicines

The Initiative forms part of AstraZeneca's sustainability commitment to deliver improved accessibility, acceptability, affordability and availability of quality care in Africa.