Couple Optimized Patient Outcomes With Environmental Targets
With inappropriate SABA use having emerged as the single largest contributor to asthma care-related GHG emissions, improving this care could achieve substantial carbon emissions savings and help the NHS meet its net zero target, the authors explained.
This improvement could include the adoption of the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) treatment strategies that, since 2019, no longer recommends that SABAs are used alone as the preferred reliever for acute asthma symptoms, the authors wrote.
However, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) asthma guidelines still recommend SABA alone as a reliever therapy.
On the other hand, the Primary Care Respiratory Society (PCRS) highlights on its website that the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) had approved the use of a dual (inhaled corticosteroid/formoterol) combination treatment to be used as a reliever therapy for people aged 12 and over.
“In the UK, this new therapy option does not yet sit within an approved national guideline as NICE last updated its treatment pathway in 2020. We await a new national asthma guideline but do not anticipate this new joint approach between NICE, BTS [British Thoracic Society], and SIGN [Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network] to publish until 2024,” the society wrote.
Dr. Bell explained that the carbon footprint of asthma care increased with higher socio-economic deprivation. “Thus, targeting suboptimal care to areas of higher deprivation could help improve patient outcomes and address health inequities, with the additional benefit of reducing the overall carbon footprint of asthma care,” he said.
This coupling of optimized patient outcomes with environmental targets to decrease GHG emissions could be extended to other chronic progressive diseases, particularly those associated with multi-morbidities, the authors wrote.
Dr. Andy Whittamore, MBBS, clinical lead at Asthma + Lung UK, who was not involved in the research, said: “This study highlights that high levels of uncontrolled asthma not only put thousands of people at risk of life-threatening asthma attacks, but also have a detrimental effect on the environment. It’s important to point out that people shouldn’t stop taking their inhalers because they are worried about the environment. The best thing for the environment is to keep your asthma under control,” he emphasized.
Please refer to the study for full study author disclosures.Dr. Hicks has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape UK .