Asthma Drug Facility

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Asthma - On the global agenda for improved health and reduction of poverty?

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world. It is estimated that about 300 million people worldwide currently suffer from asthma. Asthma kills about 200 thousand people every year. Although asthma cannot be cured, it can be treated and managed effectively. The severity of asthma can be reduced dramatically. A person's quality of life can be significantly improved. Asthma has been identified as a major global public health problem and international guidelines exist. However, in the developing world, where the majority of the world's asthmatics live, almost all cases of asthma go undiagnosed, untreated or mistreated. By causing unnecessary disability and expense, asthma is significantly increasing the poverty of individuals and countries. People with asthma are less able to work or look after their families. Children with asthma are likely to miss much of their primary education. Emergency visits, hospitalisation and inappropriate treatments are a huge financial drain on struggling health systems.

Access - Who has access to essential asthma medicines?

The World Health Organization's essential medicine list includes affordable inhaled corticosteroids (e.g. Beclometasone) and bronchodilators (e.g. Salbutamol). A standardised asthma management programme using these drugs has been clearly demonstrated as cost-effective. So why aren't all countries benefiting from the essential asthma medicines they need to implement the international guidelines? The main barrier is access - poor availability and affordability of these drugs. For example, Beclometasone has simply not been made available in many developing countries. In those developing countries where it has been available, its price is unnecessarily high. Neither health services nor patients can afford it.

The Asthma Drug Facility - How does the ADF work?

The ADF aims to be an efficient, transparent, sustainable mechanism that:

• pools requests from qualifying programmes to obtain the affordable prices for quality assured essential asthma medicines
• uses competitive processes to keep prices as low as possible
• ensures only products of assured quality are supplied
• provides technical assistance

What will the ADF achieve? It will:

• make essential asthma medicines available and affordable for people in developing countries on a sustainable basis
• improve the standardisation of treatment regimens
• assist countries to develop effective asthma management programmes
• reduce unnecessary expense caused by emergency visits, hospitalisation, and ineffective, inappropriate drugs
• improve the quality of life of children and adults with asthma
• improve the ability of health systems to respond adequately to respiratory health in general
• provide the asthma medicines that are crucial for implementation of the Practical Approach to Lung health (PAL)
• help gain more accurate global estimates about the epidemiological and financial burden of asthma
• increase commitment of governments and donors to investing in asthma as a means of reducing poverty
• reinforce international efforts for universal access to all essential medicines