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London pharmacists supporting children and young people with asthma to breathe easy

Throughout summer, pharmacists across London have been helping children and young people to manage their asthma more effectively as part of a NHS England (London) public health campaign.

Since the campaign began in late July, over 1,880 children and young people, their carers or parents have spoken with over 450 pharmacists about effective asthma management.

Asthma is the most common long-term medical condition in children, with one in every 11 having the condition: that’s an average of two in every classroom. In the UK, during 2011-2012, there were 25,073 emergency hospital admissions for children – one every 21 minutes. Research by Asthma UK has found that an estimated 75% of hospital admissions for asthma are avoidable and as many as 90% of the deaths from asthma are preventable.

David Tamby Rajah, Head of Community Pharmacy Contracts, NHS England (London) said: “In London there is a high variation in diagnosis, treatment and care of asthma and low numbers of children with a personal asthma action plan or receiving asthma reviews. This public health campaign aims to support children and young people with asthma – and their parents and carers – to know how best to manage their condition. It will also provide our teams with valuable insights into how asthma is managed in different London areas, so that we can concentrate our attention on improving asthma care across the capital.

“I’d like to thank all the community pharmacists who are taking part in this important campaign.”

Rekha Shah, Chief Executive Officer of Pharmacy London and Kensington, Chelsea & Westminster Local Pharmacy Committee, said: “Community pharmacies are in a strong position to support the improvement of these outcomes by helping to raise awareness for asthma management in children and young people. They can do this by sharing key public health messages on inhaler technique, the use of spacer devices, smoking and immunisation.

“I’m thrilled that our pharmacists can play an active role in supporting London’s children and young people with asthma to breathe easy and look forward to finding out how asthma is managed across the capital.”

London’s Strategic Clinical Network for Children & Young People and every London Local Pharmaceutical Committee (LPCs) have supported the development of the campaign, which will finish on 18 September 2015