The Global Asthma Report 2018 launched by the Global Asthma Network – of which The Union is a partner – called attention to the fact that approximately 1000 people each day die from asthma, yet many people are unable to access the quality-assured essential asthma medicines and care they need.
Highly effective asthma control treatments have been available for half a century but are yet to reach the great majority of the world’s poor with asthma. Addressing this major global health inequality is a key priority.
The report, published just prior to the UN HLM on NCDs, contains a review of asthma as a global issue and includes several key recommendations to WHO, governments, health authorities, health professionals, professional societies and patient organisations.
Asthma is the most common chronic disease of childhood and one of the commonest chronic diseases in adulthood globally. Well over 300 million people have asthma, the vast majority of whom live in low- and middle-income countries where access to basic effective asthma care is limited.
Quality long-term management can reduce the burden of asthma. This includes using relatively simple measures within a systematic national or local strategy which can improve early detection of asthma and provide effective preventive treatment as well as ensuring access to affordable essential medicines.
The Global Asthma Network is a collaboration between individuals from the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and The Union. It was established in 2012 to improve asthma care globally, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries through enhanced surveillance, research collaboration, capacity building and access to quality-assured essential medicines.