The high cost of allergy
15 April 2004

Allergic conditions cost the NHS £1 billion a year, according to a new report. The study by scientists at Edinburgh University and St George's Hospital Medical School in London revealed that 39% of children and 30% of adults have been diagnosed with an allergy, including asthma, at some time in their lives.

Treating allergies accounted for 10% of primary care prescribing bills, according to the researchers, and overall amounted to more than £1 billion of the NHS budget, when the costs of GP consultations, hospital stays and medicines are included.

One in 13 adults in the UK has been diagnosed with asthma, and one in eight children. Research published by the Royal College of Physicians in June 2003 showed that incidence of allergies has soared over the last decade, with some types of allergic reaction increasing sevenfold.

Despite these escalating rates, there are still only six full-time dedicated allergy clinics in the UK, with low levels of specialist training among medics and a resulting lack of access to specialist care for patients. As many as 82% of GPs feel that NHS care for people with allergies is of a poor standard, according to a separate study published this week.

In the survey of 500 UK doctors, although half had received some training on managing allergic conditions, in most cases it was as undergraduates. Only 4% of GP practices were equipped to offer skin-prick testing (which helps to identify possible allergies); about a quarter had access to a local allergy clinic; 80% said access to specialist care was poor. Almost 60% of the GPs thought they would benefit from further training in the treatment of allergies.

'The findings from both of these studies underline the urgent need for a concerted effort to understand the causes and treatments of asthma and allergy, and to provide better standards of care for those who are in need,' said Dr Matt Hallsworth, research manager at the National Asthma Campaign.

'The government needs to make this area of health a priority, and direct funds to reduce the burden of these conditions.'

Both studies were published in Clinical and Experimental Allergy.