Based on standardised data collected in epidemiology studies in more than 80 countries, and described in a Global Burden of Asthma Report, experts have estimated that asthma could affect as many as 300 million people worldwide. This is alarming in light of the report's finding that asthma is on the increase worldwide. These increases are correlated with growing urbanisation and the adoption of more Western lifestyles by communities around the globe, and the report's authors believe that as these trends continue, asthma will continue to increase.

One of the authors of the Global Burden of Asthma Report, Professor Richard Beasley, of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, said: "These disturbing findings reveal for the first time the scale of the global burden of asthma. Until there is a greater understanding of the factors that cause asthma, and novel public health and pharmacological measures become available, the priority is to ensure that cost-effective management approaches are available to as many asthmatic individuals as possible worldwide."

The Global Burden of Asthma Report also highlights the economic and social costs of asthma. When a person's asthma is not under control, the economic and social costs of the disease are greatly increased. If not effectively treated, asthma often leads to hospitalisation, missed work and school, limitations on physical activity, sleepless nights and in some cases death. Yet the report suggests that in many countries, people with asthma cannot get access to proper medication because of poverty, poor education, and poor infrastructure. In countries where medications are widely available, they are often under-utilised.

The worldwide increase in asthma is seen in both children and adults, yet it remains a medical mystery. At the World Asthma Meeting that begins today, specialists from around the world will convene to examine the reasons for differences in asthma prevalence in various communities and explore new approaches to asthma care.

The Global Initiative for Asthma sponsors World Asthma Day, held each year on the first Tuesday in May (May 4, 2004) to raise awareness of asthma around the world and encourage individual countries to take urgent action and make asthma a major health priority within their own regions.

Professor Paul O'Byrne, Chair of the Global Initiative for Asthma, said: "The goal on World Asthma Day is to highlight the need for more individual countries to take action at a local level and recognise asthma as one of their health priorities. With proper diagnosis, good treatment and effective management, asthma can be controlled and the person with asthma can lead a full and active life. We want to encourage governments around the world to work together with healthcare professionals and people with asthma in a bid to ease the burden of asthma."

The global view also reveals many examples of success in fighting asthma. Public health programs and education campaigns in several countries around the world have decreased asthma mortality and the burden of disease. Local adaptations of guidelines prepared by the Global Initiative for Asthma show how asthma management programs can be tailored to fit the local culture and the level of resources available