Foundation Opens Lagos Center to Increase Asthma Awareness and Treatment Access

The Ojumitunrayo Onaara Olufade Foundation was launched in Lagos to raise awareness of asthma and improve access to treatment for people with chronic respiratory diseases.

Unveiled under the theme “Free to Breathe,” the foundation was created in memory of the late Ojumitunrayo Onaara Olufade. Her family and associates said her death highlighted the urgent need for better awareness, emergency support systems and respiratory care in Nigeria.

During the launch, Demilade Olufade, the deceased’s brother, explained that the initiative was established to honour his sister, who died last year from asthma‑related complications.

He said the foundation will focus on advocacy, support vulnerable patients, and provide access to medications for those 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 who struggle to afford treatment.

Managing Director of Mulberry Partners Limited and one of the promoters of the initiative, Oyewale Odekhiran, also spoke. He 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 will 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.

Ayoola Olagunju, a respiratory physician at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, 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,” she said.

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.