To mark World Asthma Day today (May 1), Asthma UK Scotland is co-chairing the first ever major asthma conference in Scotland looking at all aspects of the condition.
The conference, to be held at the University of Glasgow tomorrow, will update healthcare professionals from across Scotland with the latest news and best practice on asthma and asthma care. Conference speakers include experts in the field whose research has been funded by Asthma UK Scotland.
Dr Graham Devereux, from the University of Aberdeen, who has been involved in various studies into asthma, including exploring maternal diet during pregnancy as a potentially important influence in the development of childhood asthma, is among the speakers.
Asthma is a serious, widespread and controllable condition which affects 1 in 13 people in Scotland. Only 1 in 5 adults with asthma have their asthma under control, which means that many are living with symptoms that impact unnecessarily on their lives. Over 5,800 people were admitted to hospital experiencing an asthma attack in 2003, of which over 2,600 were children, yet it is estimated that a staggering three-quarters of hospital admissions are avoidable.
Shona Haslam, newly appointed National Director for Asthma UK Scotland, says: 'More has to be done to tackle the causes of asthma and improve the treatment of asthma in Scotland. Together, Asthma UK Scotland and the health community are doing all we can to improve the situation for people living with asthma, through the funding of research and working with the health sector as demonstrated by this conference on asthma. We will now be calling on the new government to give asthma the priority the 390,000 people with asthma in Scotland deserve.'
Co-chair of the conference is Jenny Versnel, Executive Director Research and Policy, Asthma UK. She comments: 'Despite rates of asthma in Scotland being high in comparison to other parts of the world, many people working in the health sector in Scotland have made a real contribution to the health and well-being of people with asthma in Scotland. This conference will showcase some of the latest thinking and best practice which healthcare professionals have to offer here in Scotland for the first time.'
Speakers at the conference will include asthma experts Dr Devereux, Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, who is speaking on why asthma rates have increased; Professor Neil Thomson, Professor of Respiratory Medicine at the University of Glasgow, on diagnosis; and Philippa Madge, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Paediatric Asthma at Yorkhill in Glasgow, on recognition and treatment in children.