[Spotlight] Chronic respiratory diseases and inhalers in Africa

For decades, chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have been treated as a “Cinderella” issue in global health—a silent epidemic that affects around half a billion adults and children and causes 4 million deaths each year, yet it remains overlooked and underfunded. Patients in low-income countries often face an impossible choice, sometimes asked to pay a month's wages for just one week's supply of life-saving inhalers.