www.globalasthmareport.org
Funded by The Union
Global Asthma Report 2014
Designed for
 Government ministers
 Policy makers
 Health authorities
 Health professionals
 Patient organisations
 People living with asthma
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Asthma can be a terrible disease
 People with asthma struggle to
breathe
 Asthma is a big cause of disability at
all ages
 Asthma emergencies fill hospitals
 People can die
 334 million people have asthma
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Asthma can be a terrible disease
and there are effective essential
asthma medicines and
management programmes which
can control asthma well and
reduce the burden
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Economies suffer because of asthma
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Children miss school
Adults can’t work
Many adults don’t work effectively
Serious loss of productivity
Asthma costs are huge
 Europe €19 billion for 2011
 USA $56 billion for 2007
 These costs may be severely
underestimated
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Economies suffer because of asthma
and this can be changed by good
asthma management available to all
people with asthma
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Effective essential asthma medicines*
aren’t reaching people
Asthma inhalers are commonly
o not manufactured properly
o not available
o too expensive
*salbutamol (reliever)
inhaled corticosteroids (preventer)
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Effective essential asthma medicines
aren’t reaching people
and this can be changed, so essential
asthma inhalers are
o quality-assured
o available to all
o affordable for all
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Asthma is seriously neglected
 other diseases ‘fashionable’
 ‘invisible’ compared with obesity,
stroke, cancer etc
 big gaps in asthma data
 no WHO monitoring programme
 scandal that economic burden is so
high but attention is not being given
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Asthma is seriously neglected
and this can be changed by
 higher awareness of asthma
 national asthma strategies
 standard case management
 more data and monitoring
 advocacy for change
 higher on national and global priorities
Packed full with information and solutions
16 specific recommendations to WHO, governments,
health authorities and health professionals
Global Asthma Network: 280 centres in 120 countries
The Global Asthma Network
 will close the data gaps
 will improve asthma
management
 will continue advocacy
www.globalasthmanetwork.org
 will reduce asthma
suffering
 needs sustainable funding
What happens in asthma?
© GAN
Global Asthma Report 2014: Contents
Part One: The Burden of Asthma
 The Global Burden of Disease due to Asthma
 Hospital Admissions Due to Asthma
 Asthma Mortality
 Wheezing in infants
 The Economic Burden of Asthma
 Factors Affecting Asthma
Prevalence of asthma symptoms in 13-14 year olds (ISAAC) 2000-2003
Prevalence of asthma symptoms in 18 to 45 year olds (WHO) 2002-2003
Burden of disease (disability adjusted life years DALYs)
Asthma deaths all ages
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Asthma is made worse by
 Tobacco smoking
 Second-hand tobacco smoke
 Occupational exposures
Global Asthma Report 2014: Contents
Part Two: Management of Asthma
and Capacity Building
 National Asthma Strategies (new survey results)
 Asthma Management Guidelines (new survey results)
 Access to Quality-Assured, Affordable
Asthma Medicines (new survey results)
 Quality of Inhalers
 Asthma Management in Low-Income Countries
 Short Courses Relevant to Asthma Research and Policy
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Quality of asthma inhalers
 Asthma inhalers are complex
devices which require accurate
manufacturing
 Quality should never be
compromised in the search for
affordably-priced medicines
Global Asthma Report 2014: Key Recommendation
WHO and asthma inhalers
 add essential asthma medicines to their
Prequalification Programme
 promote the standardisation of the
dosages of active ingredients in combined
inhalers
 harmonise quality requirements for
inhalers across international reference
documents such as the pharmacopoeias
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Access to quality-assured, affordable
essential asthma medicines
 Quality-assured essential asthma
medicines are not available to many
people with asthma
 Many countries do not have them on
national reimbursement lists or essential
medicines lists
 Guaranteed access to these medicines is
vital to improving asthma outcomes
Global Asthma Report 2014: Contents
Part Three: Asthma – a Global Priority
 Asthma as a Lung Health Priority in
Low- and Middle-Income Countries
 Asthma as an NCD Priority
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Access to asthma care
 Reduce under-diagnosis of asthma
 Asthma education
 Standard case management
Global Asthma Report 2014: Headlines
Asthma is a hugely neglected public
health and ‘development’ problem in the
world which could be solved
 Political commitment and action are
required urgently
 Asthma medicines need to be affordable
 Raise awareness and priority of asthma
 More data are needed