Although effective therapy exists for treating asthma, it is presently not available for the majority of individuals with asthma living in low-income countries. This is due to a lack of quality-assured, affordable essential medicines, of well-organised health services, and of standardised management of asthma. Considering the amount of action needed, a new Working Group entitled “Asthma management in low- and middle-income countries” has been created in the Adult & Child Lung Health Section, with Karen Bissell, Union consultant, and Jean-William Fitting, Vice Chair of the A&CLH Section, serving as leaders.
The first objective of this new Working Group is to achieve inclusion of a combination inhaler (corticosteroid + β2-agonist bronchodilator) in the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines in order to promote its availability in LMICs. Experience gained with separate inhalers in the Asthma Drug Facility project showed that the inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) was often abandoned because it was not perceived as offering immediate relief. This particular adherence problem can be solved by using combination inhalers delivering a fixed dose of ICS and of a long-acting β2-agonist bronchodilator (LABA). Provided that the combination inhaler contains a LABA with rapid onset of action, it can be used both for maintenance and for rescue therapy. Given its simplicity and efficacy, the so-called “single inhaler therapy” appears well suited for resource limited settings.
The second objective will be to update The Union’s approach for the management of asthma in LMICs, in particular by defining the role of the single inhaler therapy.
As several important tasks lie ahead, everyone’s contributions will be most welcome. Any interested members are invited to sign up to this new Working Group.
To join the working group, please log in to your account at http://services.theunion.org and click on “Membership”, followed by “My membership details”, where you can then select your working group preferences.