Asthma Awareness Week is the 31 August – 6 September

Asthma Awareness Week is the 31 August – 6 September with Balloon Day on Friday, 5 September.

This Asthma Awareness Week the Asthma Foundation is encouraging all asthmatics to get an annual asthma check up with their GP now while they are well, to get that advice and support so they know exactly what to do if their asthma flares up. With over 500,000 New Zealander identifying as asthmatic, it is important to our health system that they are well. We have set out 8 simple questions we want all asthmatics to ask their doctor (see below).

Many asthmatics visit their GP only when they are sick, meaning during the visit they are tired and stressed at being unwell or having an unwell child who cannot breathe. Chronic conditions such as asthma have considerable knowledge demands so can be challenging to manage.

Cheryl Davies, manager Tu Kotahi Asthma Trust and Asthma Foundation board member says “Whanau don’t enjoy seeing their child struggling with their asthma but for many they don’t know the questions to ask the doctor and they rely on the health system to give them the right advice. Often, this is a stressful time for the parents and child and the questions will come once they are home and things have settled down.”

We want people to visit their GP when they are well, to take the time to understand their asthma, to overcome their shyness, to not feel embarrassed and get all their questions answered so they can be asthma champions.

To help, we have prepared a list of questions to ensure patients get information to help them manage their asthma.

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Respiratory Health Media Awards

Journalists, videographers, bloggers and health professionals are invited to submit respiratory-related stories published or broadcast during 2015. The winner of each category receives $1,000 and an invitation to the awards ceremony in February 2016. You can find out more information on the website

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Spring – not so good for many asthma sufferers

Many New Zealanders look forward to the warmer weather that spring brings. For New Zealand’s over 500,000 asthmatics however, spring means certain asthma triggers - including pollen and plants - appear and are the catalyst for runny noses, sneezing, shortness of breath and, potentially, asthma attacks. Don’t wait, take action, get ready to beat asthma!

Asthma poses challenges everyday for many whanau

Trina Brown tells us about the challenges her whanau faced with having two young children with asthma, the feeling of being petrified when her child could not breathe. She tells of how twenty years ago “it was very lonely to want the best for your child but to not know the right questions to ask.” Now she is strong, and encourages all whanau to “ask those questions, engage in the conversation and don’t feel shy about asking something you feel might be silly.” See more about Trina below.

Further information

In New Zealand one in nine adults and one in seven children takes asthma medication. For good asthma control it is important to use preventer medication as prescribed, to visit a health professional regularly, and to get an asthma management plan. Asthma management plans are designed to help manage your asthma and recognise when it is deteriorating before it gets to an emergency situation.

If all asthmatic patients had good control of their symptoms we would see a dramatic decrease in hospital admissions. However many patients with bad asthma have difficulty controlling it due to factors which are outside of their control. These factors include living in an overcrowded, damp or cold house, or having a low income making it harder to visit a GP or pick up prescriptions.

For further education and support you can visit one of our 15 societies and trusts around New Zealand.

This Asthma Awareness Week we will gather stories from seven New Zealanders on what it is like to live with asthma – read our Faces of Asthma here.

Quick Facts

New Zealand has one of the highest rates of asthma in the world.

• Over 500,000 New Zealanders take asthma medication

• One in seven children (14%) take asthma medication - about 107,000 children (aged 2–14)

• One in nine adults (11%) take asthma medication - about 389,000 adults

• Prevalence of asthma was higher for the most deprvied in New Zealand

• In New Zealand it costs about $1,200 per day to treat a child in hospital for asthma

• In 2013 asthma was responsible for 7,400 hospitalisations

• People still die from asthma, with 69 deaths in 2011

• In the five years between 2006 and 2011:

o Asthma deaths were six times higher for Pacific Peoples and five times higher for Maori compared to NZ European.

o People in the most deprived areas were three times more likely to die of asthma than people in the least deprived areas

• $800,000,000 is the conservative estimate of the annual economic burden of asthma

ENDS

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