A campaign to make asthma care more effective for children and young people and prevent hospital admissions and death gets under way next week, running from 8 to 12 September.
The #AskAboutAsthma campaign is focused on preventing acute asthma attacks and reducing hospital admissions among children and young people. The campaign is linked to the key period after schools return from summer holidays, when hospital admissions for childhood asthma attacks reach their annual highest point.
We want to encourage children and young people, their families, and those involved in their care, to take some simple and effective measures to help them control their asthma and help save lives.
Many young people have badly managed asthma, with over 20,000 admitted to hospital every year in England. Currently, one child dies every four weeks in England due to asthma, with many of these deaths being preventable.
Having good control of asthma and control of symptoms can help prevent deaths.
The following four steps should help ensure good control of asthma:
- Get an asthma action plan in place.
- Understand how to use inhalers correctly – these videos on the Asthma and Lung UK website should help.
- Schedule an asthma review every year and after every attack.
- Consider air pollution and its impact on lung health – every asthma conversation should include indoor and outdoor air pollution.
Parents, carers, friends, teachers, youth group leaders and anyone who supports a child or young person with asthma is encouraged to undertake the Tier 1 Improving Asthma Care Together online training. This is a free, 45 min online training resource designed to raise awareness, support better asthma control and provide guidance on what to do in the event of an asthma attack.
You can find more information about living with asthma on our website.