Dr Samantha Walker
Director of Research and Innovation, Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation
New treatments bring hope to the hundreds of thousands of people living with severe asthma, but our campaign isn’t over yet.
People living with the severest form of asthma often find themselves stuck in a never-ending cycle of life-threatening asthma attacks, emergency trips to hospital and regular doses of strong steroid tablets. These can be life-saving but can also have nasty side-effects including weight gain, osteoporosis, and mood swings. For the estimated 200,000 people living with this horrible condition, treatment options have traditionally been limited – but now there’s hope on the horizon.
In October, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended dupilumab, a biologic drug that has the potential to transform the lives of people with severe asthma. There are already four other biologics available across the UK, but we know that many tens of thousands of people who would benefit are missing out. Biologic drugs are usually given by injection and are not steroids so don’t have the same side effects as oral steroid tablets traditionally used in severe asthma care.
People living with the severest form of asthma often find themselves stuck in a never-ending cycle of life-threatening asthma attacks.
It’s no overstatement to describe biologics as wonder drugs. We’ve heard from people whose lives have been totally transformed since accessing this treatment. However, we know that four in five people with suspected severe asthma are not being referred to specialists for these treatments that could transform their lives. Recent analysis has also shown that uptake of biologic treatments for severe asthma in England is second from the bottom when compared with similar European countries – this needs to change.
To bring us in line with other European countries we need NICE to take asthma more seriously and develop new, clear guidelines for health professionals to help ensure people eligible for biologic drugs are able to access them.
For anyone struggling with their asthma, Asthma UK has an interactive tool to help people get on top of their uncontrolled symptoms and know when to ask for a referral to specialist asthma.org.uk/severe-asthma.
