The management of Amaka Chiwuike-Uba Foundation (ACUF), has commended the Anambra state government on its giant strides towards the sensitization of the general public on the symptoms, causes, prevention and management of asthma.
In a statement to the media Wednesday, Chairman of the Foundation, Mr Chiwuike Uba, said that the Foundation was glad to know that it was no longer a lone voice in spreading the message about asthma, revealing that the massive sensitization by the Anambra government was coming at the right time.
However, Chiwuike implored the government to do more by taking the asthma campaign to schools and government institutions in Anambra and putting in place a mechanism to ensure that all schools and government institutions in Anambra are asthma environment-friendly
He said that the Anambra state government should recognise asthma as an important public health issue by including it in all their policy actions, especially by setting up a state programme to improve asthma care in a cost-effective way and having a system of gathering number of asthma patients, evidence of costs and outcomes of asthma.
The statement read in part: “ACUF is grateful that the Anambra state government is taking the right step in the right direction by championing the cause of sensitising the public on the dangers of asthma. It is a commendable move that proves that the Willie Obiano government has the interest of the Anambra people at heart. However, there is still room for improvement.
“Government should increase political commitment in the asthma campaign by creating policies that will make quality-assured and essential asthma medicines available and affordable in the state. Government should adopt all components of asthma Standard Case Management; and introducing evidence-based asthma control strategies.”
