WHO plans to halve child asthma deaths

A five year plan to cut childhood deaths from asthma by half has been announced by the World Health Organisation in association with other international respiratory organisations.

The initiative aims to cut the estimated 25000 avoidable asthma related deaths that occur in children each year. Other targets include cutting the number of childhood hospitalisations due to asthma by at least a quarter and the number of school days lost by half.

The plan was announced by the joint body known as the Global Initiative for Asthma, which includes the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the European Respiratory Society, at the world asthma meeting in Barcelona, Spain (December 1998).

The project is focusing on children because of the strong evidence that the incidence of asthma is increasing rapidly in this age group throughout the world. Romain Pauwels, professor of medicine at the University of Ghent, Belgium, and chairman of the Global Initiative for Asthma, pointed out: “Asthma is a truly global problem, a burden to the world.

“Over half of all asthma deaths are avoidable with appropriate management and treatment. If we want to safeguard future generations of children from the scourge of asthma we must make a concerted effort to tackle the problem now.”

The immediate strategies proposed to meet the targets set by the initiative include encouraging health service providers to make provision for sufficient numbers of well educated health professionals to allow access to specialist care. Doctors are being advised to consult established guidelines, such as those agreed by the initiative, to improve diagnosis and treatment.

Particular emphasis is being placed on preventive treatment. Professor Pauwels said: “Governments and health authorities need to ensure adequate financing for effective anti-inflammatory therapies, irrespective of the health care system or the patient's socioeconomic status.”

Delegates called on the World Bank to support a global push to ensure universal access to asthma treatments. “Even though we cannot cure asthma, adequate treatment is currently available to control the disease.

“We have sound evidence proving the cost benefits of keeping asthma under control and outpatients out of the hospital. Despite this, millions of people with asthma are still not receiving the treatments they need, particularly in developing countries,” warned Professor Pauwels.