Asthma experts seek ways to reduce European mortality rates

Asthma experts meeting this week at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology annual congress in Copenhagen will discuss how to reduce Europe’s high asthma prevalence and death rates.

About 30 million people in Europe have asthma, with 14 EU countries among the worst 20 countries globally for asthma prevalence rates, according to a press release from Asthma UK. Researchers say about 120,000 people in Europe will die of asthma attacks, and 4 million will be hospitalized unless major research or asthma management breakthroughs occur, the release said.

“Fifteen thousand people in Europe will die because of asthma in the next 12 months alone — it is time that the EU stops and listens as this isn’t going to change unless we act now,” Samantha Walker, PhD, RGN, project coordinator of European Asthma Research and Innovation Partnership (EARIP) and director of research and policy at Asthma UK, said in the release. “We are at a crucial point in time where we can reduce these numbers.”

The experts are meeting at the EAACI congress as part of the EU-funded EARIP to define “what’s needed to reduce asthma deaths and hospitalizations in all EU member states.”

“By sharing best practice and facilitating learning across other countries, we will have a comprehensive ‘road map’ of asthma priorities across Europe that can be used to ensure investment in asthma so that we can reduce the impact it has on people and on society as a whole,” Walker said.

During two workshops, experts are scheduled to discuss what a “cure” for asthma would look like and identify asthma phenotypes as part of a more targeted treatment.

Nikolaos G. Papadopoulos

“These two workshops are the first two of a series that will take place over the next 18 months and the first to come out of EARIP since we formed in 2013,” Nikolaos G. Papadopoulos, MD, PhD, EAACI president and EARIP partner, said in the release. “We hope that EAACI members will get involved in EARIP’s activities.”