Equal access to the diagnosis and treatment of asthma: a personal perspective

Asthma affects more than 200 million people worldwide, including around 1 in every 10 children aged between 6 and 7. Surprisingly, perhaps, asthma also is a leading cause of childhood deaths. This sad fact was devastatingly brought home to my family and me in 1992 when we lost Melanie, my young niece, after a nocturnal episode. Her death left a massive hole in our family – a heartbreaking space that can never be filled and is ever-present.

I also know how terrifying asthma feels when you’re having an attack because I was a childhood sufferer myself – one of those 1 in 10.

My attacks also tended to happen at night, and I can still remember those frequent, frantic, late-night emergency trips with my mother to the hospital where I would be put on a nebulizer that would help manage yet another exacerbation. I’d go to bed at the usual time, then wake up agitated, wheezing, gasping, unable to breathe, with a tight chest. Those nocturnal attacks also meant I was often tired during the day, periodically missing school because of the many hours I’d spent the previous night in A&E.

I think I was lucky

But I also know that, in many ways, I was fortunate. I benefited from having access to medicine for my asthma, and getting the condition under control transformed my quality of life. That inhaler that I took everywhere with me changed my life! It meant I could play with my siblings without having an asthma attack. And I could take part in other normal childhood activities, like running races at my school Sport’s Day, and playing with friends.

As I got older, I was also thankful that my asthma improved and then stopped when I reached adulthood.

So, on World Asthma Day, I not only recognize – but am also eternally grateful for – the work that has been done, and is being done, to provide global access to effective asthma medicine.

World Asthma Day is important because it highlights the need for equal access to the right medicines. It means that people living with asthma anywhere in the world know they have a voice, and they have the attention of many disciplines across the healthcare industry and society to help address their needs. This includes include doctors, nurses, pharmaceutical companies and patient advocacy groups.

What it means to me to work for Sandoz

Having had personal experience of asthma, it means so much to me that today, I‘m now part of a company I know is determined to make a real difference to people living with the condition. At Sandoz, I’m also alongside a highly committed, dedicated, and talented team working in this field. In addition, I have the privilege of leading a group of scientists and device engineers who are passionately focused on delivering high quality respiratory products to patients.

Developing and manufacturing these complex respiratory inhaler products requires extensive and long-term capital investment, as well as scientific skills and technical know-how. So, on World Asthma Day, I also want to publicly acknowledge their valuable contribution to scientific and medical advancement in this specialist field.

Few companies have the necessary expertise to develop and manufacture inhaled medicines. At Sandoz, we’re among only a handful of organizations with the potential to succeed in this space. That’s why we have continued to invest in developing the capabilities necessary to make these essential products available to patients living with asthma.

1 https://cks.nice.org.uk/topics/asthma/background-information/prevalence/

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