Campaign for asthma control and prevention begins

A total of 100 pharmacies across the nation are taking part in an asthma patient care campaign, which offers education and guidance to boost regular and individualized management of the disease.

Asthma is one of 15 key diseases which are included into China's 2030 Health Plan. It is a disease which results in the second highest mortality and disability rate, after cancer.

There are 45.7 million people more than 20 years old who have asthma in China, and the incidence keeps rising.

The childhood incidence of asthma rose by 53 percent over the decade between 2000 and 2010, while the adult incidence rose by 239 percent between 2010 and 2015, medical experts said.

In spite of the large number of patients, only 28.7 percent of asthma patients in urban areas keep the disease under control. Less than 40 percent of child patients have good control of the disease.

About half of adult patients have a poor compliance with doctor's order.

Asthma attacks can have a long duration and be frequent, which influences work, study and children's growth. It is a disease seriously impacting people's life quality.

Dr Guo Yanfei from Beijing Hospital's respiratory and intensive medicine department said asthma is a chronic disease requiring long-term management.

"Improving patient compliance can better control the disease," he said.

Doctors said asthma can't be cured, but effective management can control the disease and reduce acute attacks as well as damage to lung function.

Research has confirmed that a rise of 25 percent in compliance can reduce the risk of acute attack by 10 percent.

The campaign will offer public education through interesting methods to emphasise the importance of following doctors' guidance.

Organizers will work with all the participating pharmacies and use social media to offer online and offline patient education and public education to achieve better asthma management.