New figures for UK asthma
01 December 2004

The number of people in the UK with asthma has risen to 5.2 million, according to research commissioned by Asthma UK.

'Where Do We Stand?', published today (1 December), is a unique set of key statistics documenting the extent of asthma in the UK. It reveals the effect of asthma on people living with the condition, how many people are dying of asthma, and the impact on the NHS, which now spends £889 million on treating asthma each year.

The report shows that among the 5.2 million people with asthma there are:

• 4.1 million adults and 1.1 million children with asthma in the UK
• 150,000 people with asthma in Northern Ireland
• 390,000 people with asthma in Scotland
• 260,000 people with asthma in Wales

Across the UK there has been a small rise in the number of people with asthma since the last audit was taken in 2001, when the total stood at 5.1 million. Asthma UK experts say it is difficult to know for certain what is behind this trend: it may be a result of children with asthma growing up to become adults with asthma, but evidence has not been collected that would confirm this.

Asthma is costing the UK more than £2.3 billion a year through the NHS, benefits and lost working days, reveals the report. It suggests that since the cost of treating an asthma attack in hospital is 3.5 times that of treating well-controlled asthma, it would make more financial sense to invest in primary care programmes to help people with asthma control their symptoms.

'The UK has one of the highest rates of people with asthma of any country in the world,' said Asthma UK's Chief Executive, Donna Covey. 'But a top-ranking league position tells us little, and detailed statistics about asthma in the UK are not widely available. Asthma UK has attempted to fill this gap in our knowledge.'

She added: '"Where Do We Stand?" gives an indication of where the efforts of policy-makers, NHS managers and politicians should be focused in order to improve the health and well-being of the 5.2 million people with asthma in the UK – of all ages and in all areas of society.'

The report was compiled with help from the Lung and Asthma Information Agency and is available from Asthma UK. Email info@asthma.org.uk or call 020 7786 5000.