BIVDA (British In Vitro Diagnostics Association) puts asthma drive atop UK agenda:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The British In Vitro Diagnostics Association (BIVDA) is urging greater access to testing for asthma, in order to ensure the earliest possible diagnosis of the condition and improve prevention. BIVDA used World Asthma Day (May 6) to criticise the UK government's lack of impetus in addressing the problem. Asthma has a high health and social burden, accounting for 1-2% of the healthcare budget of industrialised countries. There were some 74,000 hospital admissions in the UK in 1999, says BIVDA. Of the 330,000 patients attended annually by each average primary care organisation in the UK, some 45,000 are diagnosed with asthma and 440 are admitted as emergency cases. Its prevalence is on the increase, with some estimates suggesting that the number of cases has doubled in the EU in the last 10 years.