AstraZeneca Ethiopia has announced its decision to join hands with The Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health and The Ethiopian Thoracic Society. This initiative is part of their new Africa PUMUA Initiative to support asthma care in Africa.
The Africa PUMUA Initiative will support clinical practice aligned to the Non Communicable Disease (NCD) service decentralisation programme by the Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health.
As part of the program ,AstraZeneca in consultation with the Ministry of Health and the Ethiopian Thoracic society will provide 150 nebuliser machines to various hospitals within Ethiopia, as well as establish 47 nebulisation stations.
Over 40 million people suffer from Asthma in Africa.In a press statement,AstraZeneca, as stated that Africa PUMUA Initiative reflects its commitment to improving the health outcomes of patients in Africa, particularly Asthma patients .
Barbara Nel, AstraZeneca Country President for African Cluster said that Africa PUMUA initiative aimed at strengthening local health systems and centres and hoped that the initiative will be able to redefine asthma care in Ethiopia.
Speaking about the tie up, Dr Dereje Duguma,Ethiopian Federal Ministry of Health, hailed it as an important public private partnership with potential to bring immense transformation to Asthma care.The Partnership was also in line with the Government of Ethiopia’s National Strategic Action Plan for Non-Communicable Diseases, effective diagnosis and enhanced referral systems. He expressed confidence that PUMUA will be a great tool in decentralization of these efforts.
More than 5 million people in Ethiopia are estimated to be living with asthma.The initiative will be launched across 6 countries in Africa initially including Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Ivory Coast, Cameroon and Senegal, and then expand to other countries.
