The Vice Chancellor of David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences(DUFUHS), Ebonyi State, Professor Jesse Uneke, Tuesday said his team of researchers , EQUI-RESP Africa Project has a target of treating 1,000 patients with respiratory diseases in Ebonyi.
Uneke who is the team lead/principal investigator on improving equity in respiratory disease outcomes using data -driven tools in five African countries including, Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, and South Africa, explained that respiratory diseases is the cause of acute and chronic morbidity and mortality in Africa.
Noting that respiratory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia in children and adults, asthma, and lung cancer were prevalent in the region, saying that poor people are mostly affected.
He disclosed this during the flag off of the project at the Institute of Child Health (ICH) in Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki (AE-FUTHA), Ebonyi state.
He said, “It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this event of which we are flagging-off the implementation of the project at the ICH of the AEFUTHA which is one of the numerous EQUI-RESP AFRICA Project implementation facilities in Ebonyi State.
“EQUI-RESP Africa Project is the acronym for Improving Equity in Respiratory Disease Outcomes In Africa using Data-Driven Tools, which is an intervention/implementation research project. The project is multi-country and implemented in five African countries including Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, and South Africa.
“The funding support is from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) United Kingdom and coordinated by the University of Edinburgh, UK.I am delighted to inform you that of the two states selected in Nigeria for the project implementation, Ebonyi State is one of them, with my humble self, serving as the Team Lead/Principal Investigator in Ebonyi. The other State is Lagos State.
“It is well established that respiratory diseases,such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia in children and adults, asthma, and lung cancer, are all prevalent in Nigeria as in the remaining four target African countries.
“Although these respiratory diseases cause a very large burden of both acute and chronic morbidity, as well as mortality in Nigeria, there is limited health systems’ capacity for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
“Furthermore, there are large inequities in the outcomes of these diseases. They are worst among the poor, who do not have access to affordable and quality healthcare.
“Gaps in evidence, policies and capacity, and inequitable outcomes, underscore a need for improved response. EQUI-RESP Africa Project therefore, brought together an interdisciplinary network of researchers and technical experts, policymakers, programme officers, educators, and representatives of patients, civil society and non-governmental organisations (NG0), to implement a programme of research and interventions for respiratory diseases over 4 years.
“In this effort, we will harness a large body of work that has already been invested in the development, validation, implementation and training for the use of the tools such as Equitable Impact Sensitive Tool (EQUIST) and the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) method. We will also pilot and validate the “Pathways to Survival” (PATHS) tool, a novel tool based on decision science, that identifies key bottlenecks in intervention delivery. We will also build on experiences and knowledge of the RESPIRE NIHR Global Health Unit at the University of Edinburgh.
“The goal is to achieve demonstrable and equitable reductions in morbidity and mortality from respiratory diseases through improvements in interventions and policies derived from data-driven tools.
“The project will be implemented in five health facilities in Ebonyi State including ICH AEFUTHA, Primary Health Care Centre Nkwagu, Maternal and Child Health Center, Okposhi Umuoghara, Maternal and Child Health Centre Unagboke Azugwu, Mother and Child Centre (MCC). DUFUTH Uburu.
“The project will provide some critical equipment for the use in the detection/diagnosis of some respiratory diseases to be domesticated at ICH AEFUTHA and MCC DUFUTH and also provide free treatment to up to 1000 patients across the six target health facilities in Ebonyi State within the four-years duration of the project” said Uneke.
Meanwhile, the director of Institute of Child health(ICH), Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, Prof. Thecla Ezeogo narrating the objectives of ICH said the project would help in reducing mortality and mobility associated to respiratory diseases.
“Our Institute of Child Health was established for the purpose of promoting child health through, research, training and health service delivery. Among her mandates are; to identify factors that are largely responsible for child mortality in Ebonyi state and its horizons and employ necessary actions to mitigate these factors, to provide preventive health care services through immunization and health information, for women, children and the concerned community, to strengthen community health outreaches for the promotion of child health care within communities.
“The Institute willingly collaborates with organizations that function and operate within her goals. Today she is collaborating with EQUI-RESP Africa, a project group positioned to engage communities and policymakers to achieve demonstrable and equitable reductions in morbidity and mortality from respiratory diseases through evidence-based improvements in prevention, diagnosis, treatment, interventions and policies”.