Asthma remains a significant health problem in Australia, with
prevalence and death rates that are high by international standards
despite declines, according to a report released today by the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The report, Asthma in Australia 2008, estimates that
asthma affects more than 1 in 10 Australians - equivalent to over 2
million people.
Professor Guy Marks, Director of the Australian Centre for
Asthma Monitoring, said the prevalence of asthma in Australian
children is plateauing, if not declining.
'In the long run, this should reduce the overall burden of
asthma in Australia,' Professor Marks said.
Report co-author, Leanne Poulos said, 'Although asthma deaths
declined significantly between 1989 and 2006, the Australian death
rate is still high on an international scale.'
Although lower than New Zealand and the UK, asthma death rates
in Australia are almost three times the rate in Europe.
Asthma accounted for 402 deaths in Australia in 2006.
The report showed that hospital admission rates for asthma have
also declined since 1993-94, by 45% among adults and by 42% among
children.
Despite these positive trends, asthma continues to be a major
concern in Australia and there are several areas we can work on to
improve asthma outcomes,' Professor Marks said.
Of particular concern is that:
- Australians with asthma continue to smoke almost as commonly as
people without asthma, despite the known adverse effects.
- An estimated 11% of Australian children with asthma live in
homes where smoking occurs inside the home.
- The majority of people with asthma do not have a written asthma
action plan, even though national guidelines have recommended their
use for the past 20 years.
- Asthma is a major problem among Indigenous Australians.
Compared with non-Indigenous Australians, they have higher rates of
hospitalisation and mortality due to asthma.
The report was funded by the Department of Health and Ageing and
prepared by the by the Australian Centre for Asthma Monitoring, a
collaborating unit of the AIHW located at the Woolcock Institute of
Medial Research in Sydney.
Monday 20 October 2008
Further information: Ms Leanne Poulos, ACAM,
tel. 02 9114 0467 mob. 0409 155 518, Dr Kuldeep Bhatia, AIHW, 02
6244 1144 mob. 0417 880 300
For media copies of the report: Publications
Officer, AIHW, tel. 61 2 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for the availability of Asthma in Australia
2008.