Asthma is the most common chronic disease in Ireland. Here you'll find the facts and figures of asthma in Ireland.
Asthma in Ireland
- 470,000 Irish people have asthma, including one in five children
- One Irish person dies every week as a result of their asthma – of these deaths, 90% are preventable
- Uncontrolled asthma is dangerous – every 26 minutes someone in Ireland visits an Emergency Department with asthma
- Asthma costs the state over €500 million per annum
- Children miss 12 days of school per year and adults miss 10 work days a year due to their asthma
- Ireland has the fourth highest prevalence of asthma in the world
- 3.13 days is the the average length of stay with an asthma hospital admission
- 5000+ - the number of asthma admissions to hospital every year
Around 20,000 people visit hospital each year as aresult of asthma. This works out as roughly on visit every 26 minutes.
Hospital Statisitics
- 8% of people with asthma have been admitted to hospital
- 14% attended A&E in the last year and
- 27% had been nebulised in the previous year.
- 45% of asthma patients had at least once course of oral steroids in the previous year
- There was an average of 4,753 asthma admissions per year from 2005 – 2010
- The average length of stay with an asthma admission was 3.13 days
- Patients under 15 average length of stay was 1.9 days
- Patients over 65 average length of stay was 6.2 days
Adults with Asthma per County
School Going Children with Asthma per County
The Asthma Lifecycle
The Asthma Lifecycle illustrates the requirements of people with asthma at each stage of their lives.
All their Life:
- Tobacco Reduction
- Affordable Medication
- Long-Term Illness Scheme
- DPS Threshold Reduction
- Free Annual GP Review
- Respiratory Consultants
- Clean Outdoor Air
- Clean Air In Their Homes
0-6 Years:
- ASI Asthma in Pregnancy Programme
- Access to paediatric respiratory consultants
- ASI Asthma in Early Childhood Programme
- Increased training for GPs and practise nurses
6-18 Years:
- Extension of free GP asthma review to everyone under 18
- access to spirometry to ensure accurate diagnosis (8+ years)
- ASI Schools and Sports programme
18 - 80+ Years:
- ASI "Just Diagnosed" campaign funding
- Reliever inhaler as part of their First Aid Kit
- Paediatric lungs function labs
- Recruit respiratory doctors and nurses
- Access to spirometry to ensure accurate diagnosis
