Effective treatments can improve the quality of life for those living with asthma and allergies and can save health resources.

Allergies and asthma are the most prevalent of all chronic diseases, with asthma alone affecting nearly three million Canadians. In 2000 asthma was responsible for over 31,000 hospital admissions in Canada. Health Canada ‘s report: The Economic Burden of Illness in Canada 1998, estimated the total direct and indirect costs of respiratory disease in Canada to be more than $13 billion with direct health care costs accounting for $8.5 billion.

 

A person living with asthma often also suffers from allergies. A recent study of 2,657 people in the United States concluded that all types of asthma are allergy-related . Nearly 58 percent of Canadian asthma sufferers report being diagnosed with non-food allergies. Effective new treatments for asthma and for non-food allergies can improve the quality of life for patients and reduce overall health costs by avoiding or reducing hospitalizations.