Sunday Ehigiator
The Ojumitunrayo Onaara Olufade Foundation has been launched in Lagos to deepen awareness about asthma and improve access to treatment for people living with chronic respiratory diseases.
The foundation, unveiled recently with the theme “Free to Breathe,” was established in memory of the late Ojumitunrayo Onaara Olufade, whose family and associates said her death exposed the urgent need for better awareness, emergency support systems and access to respiratory care in Nigeria.
Speaking at the launch, the brother of the deceased, Demilade Olufade, said the initiative was created to honour his sister, who died last year from asthma-related complications.
According to him, the foundation would focus on advocacy, support vulnerable patients, and provide access to medications for people battling respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis and lung cancer.
“They must have access to ventilators, inhalers, and medication that they need to ensure that they can live a quality life, given the challenges that they have,” he said.
He added that the foundation plans to collaborate with primary healthcare centres to distribute medications and support patients struggling to afford treatment.
Also speaking, Managing Director of Mulberry Partners Limited and one of the promoters of the initiative, Oyewale Odekhiran, said the organisation was established to immortalise Olufade, who had lived with asthma.
“We decided that what better way to immortalise her than setting up a foundation in her memory,” he said.
Odekhiran noted that despite the prevalence of asthma in Nigeria, public understanding of the condition remains low.
“A lot of people do not really know much about the disease,” he said, adding that the foundation would intensify advocacy, public sensitisation and donations of respiratory medications, including inhalers.
He disclosed that the foundation intends to make May 16 an annual awareness event and would immediately commence outreach programmes at primary healthcare centres in Ikeja and Oregun areas of Lagos.
The foundation’s legal adviser, Adebola Shobowale, said improved awareness and emergency support facilities in public places could help prevent avoidable asthma-related deaths.
“We feel that there was some kind of awareness and medical facilities that could have been made available in public places,” he said.
A respiratory physician at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Ayoola Olagunju, described chronic respiratory diseases as a major health burden globally and in Nigeria.
“We have a high burden of chronic respiratory disease. There is misinformation, there is poor access to treatment, which also worsens the burden.”
Explaining asthma, Olagunju said the condition inflames and narrows the airways, making breathing difficult, while common triggers include dust, smoke and allergens.
“It’s a disease that is very treatable, and nobody should lose their life to asthma,” she said. “Asthma deaths are very preventable.”
She welcomed the initiative, saying it would help improve awareness, reduce stigma and expand access to treatment for patients living with respiratory illnesses.
The late Olufade studied at Bells University of Technology and the University of Ibadan before building a career in marketing and corporate communications with organisations including Noah’s Ark Communications and RedCloud Technology.