Community-based asthma education programs help British Columbia cut asthma hospitalizations in half.

Partners throughout the health care system in British Columbia have been participating in a chronic disease management program for asthma and providing information and support to help people effectively manage their asthma. According to the Ministry of health services “asthma care guidelines have been developed and distributed to family physicians and many community pharmacists are providing asthma education. ”The BC Lung Association and provincial health authorities have made asthma programs and education resources available in many communities.”

The results of these efforts have been outstanding. In four years although the number of asthma cases in British Columbia has increased by 22%, the rate of hospitalization for asthma has been cut in half and the number of hospital bed days utilized for treating asthma has been reduced by 47 percent. Approximately seven British Columbians die annually as a result of a serious asthma attack.
According to Dr. Mark Fitzgerald, a respirologist at Vancouver Hospital and a member of the Provincial Asthma Task Force, asthma medications can effectively control symptoms and prevent asthma attacks, but only if taken properly. “Every person with asthma should have an action plan”.