Key Recommendations

For the World Health Organization (WHO)

• strengthen its teams and consultant capacity on chronic respiratory disease (CRD) including asthma at its headquarters, and at regional and country level
• emphasise the need for asthma to be managed as a chronic disease, rather than a series of acute episodes or asthma attacks
• develop a global asthma control strategy
• mobilise high-level political commitment to increase investment in a chronic care-based approach to asthma services in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
• provide a framework for the establishment of national asthma programmes to improve asthma service delivery including standard case management and asthma management guidelines
• consider asthma in climate change strategies
• support the establishment of a global observatory on asthma
• recommend that during the COVID-19 pandemic, people with asthma should continue their inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)
• increase access to affordable quality-assured essential asthma medicines by:
  • engaging in coordinated international advocacy for access to essential asthma medicines
  • establishing a procurement mechanism similar to the Global Drug Facility
  • encouraging manufacturers of both generic and innovator pharmaceutical products to make greater efforts to provide affordable, quality-assured, essential asthma medicines for all
  • advocating for WHO to be funded to add quality-assured essential asthma inhaled medicines to the WHO Prequalification Programme
  • advocating for WHO to receive adequate funding to help countries strengthen their pharmaceutical procurement systems and practices
  • calling for countries to apply WHO pricing policy recommendations to increase access to quality assured essential asthma medicines
  • working with partners to re-energise the piloting of national asthma programmes in LMICs with a systems-strengthening strategy based on essential asthma medicines

For Governments

• ensure all people with asthma can access and afford essential asthma medicines and care
• implement WHO’s pharmaceutical pricing policies and Essential Medicines List
• stimulate in-country demand for unmet need for essential asthma medicines and care by:
  • establishing national asthma programmes to improve asthma service delivery including standard case management with essential asthma medicines
  • engaging with their professional societies, civil society, asthma patient organisations, health services
• use asthma programme data to track improvements in diagnosis and reductions in emergency visits and hospital admissions, and to quantify the effectiveness of and need for essential asthma medicines
• ensure their country has a national asthma programme with curriculum, education, management guidelines including essential asthma medicines, and that asthma training materials are current and reach all relevant healthcare workers
• strengthen policies to reduce tobacco consumption, encourage healthy eating and reduce exposure to potentially harmful chemicals, smoke and dust
• commit to research that increases the understanding of asthma, its causes, known asthma triggers and identifies the causes of asthma, and improves asthma management
• provide standardised and regular data on asthma symptoms, using population representative surveys
• participate in a global observatory on asthma, to track country burden and indicators
• consider people with asthma in climate change strategies

For health authorities

• monitor rates of emergency visits and hospital admissions for asthma
• report rates of asthma deaths in children and adults to monitor progress in asthma care, and as an early warning of epidemics of fatal asthma
• take responsibility for ensuring all people with asthma have equitable access to affordable asthma care and essential asthma medicines
• implement WHO’s pharmaceutical pricing policies and Essential Medicines List
• ensure they have an asthma programme with curriculum, education, management guidelines including essential asthma medicines, and that asthma training materials are current and reach all relevant healthcare workers
• develop joined-up approaches for people with asthma and CRDs in LMICs
• recommend that during the COVID-19 pandemic, people with asthma should continue their ICS
• have the capacity to conduct representative population health surveys including on asthma

For health professionals, professional societies and patient organisations

• promote programmatic management to improve asthma service delivery
• promote the use in children, adolescents and adults with asthma of ICS-containing medicine, either symptom-driven in mild asthma, or daily as preventative
• develop joined-up approaches for people with asthma and CRDs in LMICs
• recommend that during the COVID-19 pandemic, people with asthma should continue their ICS
• encourage patient advocacy to improve asthma care and outcomes

For the Global Asthma Network (GAN)

• commit to working with all the above stakeholders to:
  • continue to conduct global asthma surveys
  • publish a further GAR before 2030
  • collaborate with individuals and organisations on work aligned with our vision and mission
  • advocate for equitable access to affordable asthma care for all

The Global Asthma Network >