AstraZeneca global, a science-led biopharmaceutical business, has donated four Compressor Nebulizers to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH) to aid patients with asthma to access quality healthcare.

The Country Manager, Emmanuel Atiemo Mawuli, who made the presentation, said the exercise was under the Africa Pumua Initiative as part of its commitment to ensuring access to sustainable health care through improved accessibility, acceptability, affordability and availability of quality care in Africa.

Through this initiative, he said his outfit would support local health systems and centres by working together to strengthen local medical knowledge and expertise as well as infrastructure for asthma patients hoping to redefine asthma care in Ghana.

Mr Mawuli stated that by providing support for infrastructure, increasing awareness of the symptoms and risks of asthma, and building the capacity of all role players across the patient journey, the Africa PUMUA Initiative through its partnerships, seeks to address the barriers currently preventing smooth access to care for patients with asthma.

Receiving the machines, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the hospital, Dr Eric Ngyedu noted that non-communicable diseases had in recent times become the leading cause of death globally and there was the need to direct all attention to that area.

He said the donation, was an initial step to seeing people living with asthma get improved, quality and affordable health care and expressed his gratitude to the donors for being thoughtful and extending kindness to the facility.

For his part, Dr Stephen Laryea, the Director of Medical Affairs, said the nebulizing machines would help in the effective treatment of asthma and kidney diseases.

 “These machines do not depend on the patient's efforts, they work on their own and it is critical in aiding a patient with severe asthma attacks”.

He said the machines had come to complement the hospital's efforts in fighting asthma and other related diseases in terminating all preventable deaths.

“The hospital has some Nebulizers already, but we all know this facility is expanding and the wards are increasing, so the patient load is higher and services we carry out must be expanded”.