EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01 LOCAL TIME, MAY 4, 2004 People in Europe Among those Most at Risk of Asthma in the World Nearly 30 million people in Europe have asthma, and rates set to increase The prevalence of asthma continues to increase throughout most countries in Europe*, according to a report released today, World Asthma Day. The Global Burden of Asthma Report, which details the prevalence, morbidity, and mortality of asthma in 20 regions around the world, reveals a number of alarming facts about the burden of this chronic respiratory disease in the region: Nearly 30 million people currently have asthma in Scandinavia, the Baltic States, the UK, Republic of Ireland, and Western Europe. Throughout Europe, the prevalence of asthma is generally higher in urban areas compared with suburban and rural areas. The incidence of asthma attacks diagnosed by general practitioners in the UK and Republic of Ireland is about 5 times higher than it was 25 years ago. The recent increase in asthma prevalence has been particularly marked in the former East Germany, which now has prevalence rates similar to those in former West Germany. Similar increases are expected to occur in the former socialist countries of the Baltic region in coming years, as these communities increasingly adopt Western lifestyles. Asthma is a chronic lung disease characterized by recurrent breathing problems and symptoms such as breathlessness, wheezing, chest tightness, and coughing. Asthma symptoms vary over time, and also differ in severity from one individual to another. When it is not effectively treated, asthma often leads to hospitalization, missed work and school, limitations on physical activity, sleepless nights and in some cases death. One of the authors of the Global Burden of Asthma Report, Professor Richard Beasley, of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, comments, “Asthma places a high burden on the health care systems in many European nations.” In the UK and Republic of Ireland, there are over 4 million primary health care consultations for asthma each year. In the Netherlands it has been estimated that the annual direct medical cost per person with asthma is about US$500, while in Switzerland there are over 40,000 hospitalizations for asthma annually, representing the largest category of direct medical expenses related to the disease. In the Baltic region, the cost of asthma medications is a major barrier to good asthma care. In these countries a substantially lower percentage of individuals with asthma symptoms receive a diagnosis of asthma and asthma medication, compared to other countries in Europe. Yet Professor Beasley says, “There are wide variations in the treatment of asthma throughout Europe, and even in wealthier nations asthma is often undertreated and management falls short of that recommended in international guidelines.” However, progress in reducing the burden of asthma has also been achieved in many European countries in recent years. “Marked declines in asthma mortality rates over the past 10 years in Scandinavia and Western Europe have been attributed to improvements in asthma management, especially the increased use of inhaled glucocorticosteroid therapy,” says Professor Beasley. “These successes underline the positive impact of raising awareness of asthma in this region—which is why World Asthma Day plays an important role in improving awareness and treatment of asthma across the world,” he adds. Asthma is now one of the world’s most common long-term conditions, according to the Global Burden of Asthma Report. The disease is estimated to affect as many as 300 million people worldwide—a number that could increase by a further 100 million by 2025. The Global Burden of Asthma Report is a comprehensive survey of the prevalence and impact of asthma around the world, based on standardized data collected in epidemiology studies in more than 80 countries. This groundbreaking report has been written by Richard Beasley, Matthew Masoli, Denise Fabian, and Shaun Holt, of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand and the University of Southampton in the UK. Initial results of the Report were released on World Asthma Day 2003; the Report is being released in full today. The Report was commissioned by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), an effort launched in 1993 to work with healthcare professionals and public health officials around the world to reduce the burden of asthma. Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma prepared by GINA have been adapted for use in a variety of settings worldwide, illustrating how asthma management programs can be tailored to fit the local culture and level of resources available. GINA also sponsors World Asthma Day, held each year on the first Tuesday in May. This event aims to raise awareness of asthma around the world and encourage individual countries to take urgent action and make asthma a major health priority within their own regions. --END-- *This press release includes information about the following regions defined in the Global Burden of Asthma Report: Scandinavia and the Baltic States (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden), United Kingdom/Republic of Ireland, and Western Europe (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal).