Asthma figures reveal "shocking disparity"

1:11pm Tuesday 6th May 2008

Children in Pembrokeshire are more than twice as likely to be admitted to hospital with asthma than those in neighbouring Ceredigion a report released today by Asthma UK Cymru reveals.

The Wish you Were Here report, released on World Asthma Day, reveals a "shocking disparity" in the number of emergency admissions for children with asthma across the UK.

The figures for the Wales report were amassed from local health boards across the country between 2006 to 2007. They show that the hospital admission rate for under 15s in Pembrokeshire is 43% above the all Wales average, in Ceredigion it is 40% below.

The standardised emergency admission ration for all ages in Pembrokeshire is 6% above the national average whereas in Ceredigion it is 45% below.

A spokesman for asthma UK said that there was no one isolated factor that would explain the discrepancy between Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion.

Rather there are a number of contributory factors to asthma including family history, environment, smoking during pregnancy, poor diet, public awareness of the condition and effective healthcare strategies being in place.

The Wish you Were Here report is part of a wider campaign, aiming to ensure that there are consistent healthcare standards for asthma sufferers across the UK these would include a personal asthma action plan for all sufferers and regular asthma reviews for children.

The charity says that 75% of emergency hospital emissions are avoidable through effective asthma management and routine care.

For more information on managing asthma log onto www.asthma.org.uk.

Editor's Choice

Editor's Choice