Asthma alarm

DEATHS FROM ASTHMA ARE SOARING

THE number of people being killed by asthma is soaring. New figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that 1,417 people across England and Wales were killed by the respiratory disease in 2018. That was up from 1,318 the year before and is the highest number of deaths since at least 2009, when comparable records began.

That year, some 997 people died of asthma.

The charity Asthma UK says that the UK’s poor death rate for asthma attacks

may be because the condition is not taken seriously enough.

Kay Boycott, chief executive of Asthma UK, said: “It is completely unacceptable that thousands of people with asthma in England and Wales have died needlessly from asthma attacks.

“It’s been five years since the National Review of Asthma Deaths found that two-thirds of deaths from asthma attacks could have been prevented with basic care, yet we are still seeing tragic cases of lives being cut short.

“The same mistakes are being made again and again because essential recommendations have not been implemented.

“This lack of action is costing lives and devastating families and communities.

“The NHS must act now to ensure that everyone with asthma in England and Wales gets basic asthma care which includes a yearly review with their GP or asthma nurse, a check to ensure they are using their inhaler properly and a written asthma action plan.

“The NHS needs to ensure that all healthcare professionals are providing this care to patients.”

Separate figures from Eurostat reveal that the UK has one of the worst asthma death rates in Europe - at 2.20 deaths for every 100,000 people.

That was the sixth-worst rate behind Serbia (4.75), Estonia (2.51), Turkey (2.41), Latvia (2.35) and Spain (2.24).

Some 5.4 million people in the UK are currently receiving treatment for asthma, including 1.1 million children.

But Asthma UK warned that nearly two-thirds (65%) of asthmatics do not receive basic care from healthcare professionals that they are entitled to including a yearly review, a check to ensure they are using their inhaler properly and a written asthma action plan.

Mike Morgan, National Clinical Director for Respiratory, NHS England said: “Asthma UK worked closely with the NHS to develop proposals in our Long Term Plan, which sets out measures including better diagnosis of the condition, improved medicine reviews and stronger guidance for local health services to better support families living with asthma, all of which will contribute to more than three million people benefitting from improved respiratory, stroke and cardiac services over the next decade, but as we’ve seen this week, with confirmation that one third of childhood asthma cases are linked to air pollution, it’s clear that a big part of this challenge cannot be met by the NHS alone.”