Martins Ifijeh
The Amaka Chiwuike-Uba Foundation (ACUF) has called on the government, Civil SocietyOrganisations, development partners and other stakeholders to support Asthma management in Nigeria.
The foundation noted that given the asthma prevalence, morbidity and mortality rate in Nigeria, all hands must be on desk to tackle environmental factors that trigger asthma and also provide necessary support in terms of infrastructure, human resources capacity and other tools required for asthma management.
The Executive Director, Amaka Chiwuike-Uba Foundation (ACUF), Chiwuike Uba (CPA, FCNA), hailed giant steps taken by the foundation in the alleviation of conditions for persons living with asthma in Nigeria.
The not-for-profit, non-partisan, non-governmental and charitable organisation established in 2016 in memory of his late wife, Mrs. Amaka Chiwuike-Uba, has been geared towards improving the quality of lives of people; especially those with asthma and other respiratory diseases.
In order to effectively and strategically carry out the programmes, projects and activities of the foundation, the ACUF established three centres of excellence: the Centre for Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Conditions (CAARC); the Centre for Innovation, Youth, Rural and Sustainable Development (CIYRSD), and the Centre for Leadership and Global Education (CeLGE).
In a review of the ACUF’s achievements for the year 2017, Uba recalled the foundation’s first conference which led to the production of the first-ever documentary on Asthma in Nigeria, titled, ‘Together We Shall Beat Asthma’.
He noted that the annual asthma conference and series of research had impacted significantly on the country in many ways. According to him, they had led to an increased awareness on asthma prevalence, causes and management, with over 90 per cent impact on the knowledge of asthma among the conference participants.
He said the competency to manage asthma was impacted positively by over 90 per cent among the conference participants as a result of the information shared during the conference.
The Executive Director also noted that aside the research and annual asthma conferenceprogramme, the foundation recorded milestones in other programmes, with considerable progress in other areas including education and training, advocacy, networking and partnerships.
