'One in ten children denied correct asthma drug due to price’ – survey
The Asthma Society of Ireland survey suggests that some 41% of children with asthma missed at least one week of school in the last year because of asthma. Stock picture: PA
One in 10 children with asthma did not have the right medication in the past three months as their parents could not afford expensive inhalers, a new survey has revealed.
In the last year, over a third of children with asthma were hospitalised, with 14% in hospital more than twice, according to the Asthma Society of Ireland survey of parents. Some 41% of children missed at least one full week of school in the last year because of asthma.
The society has raised concerns about costs and called for combination inhalers to be free for children.
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These offer two medicines in one inhaler, under the maintenance and reliever therapy treatment (MART) programme, but it costs around €80 a month.
Asthma Society CEO Eilís Ní Chaithnía urged health minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill to make these products free for children.
Families need “access to the right treatment at the right time, and, for too many families across Ireland, cost is getting in the way”, Ms Ní Chaithnía said.
“MART inhalers are the preferred treatment for asthma under national and international clinical guidelines, yet their cost remains prohibitive,” she said, adding that making them free of charge “would help prevent attacks and reduce hospital admissions”.
Asthma is not one of the conditions included in the long-term illness scheme, but costs may be eligible for reimbursement under the drugs payment scheme.
Up to one in five children in Ireland has asthma, one of the highest rates in the world, the HSE has said.
Respiratory consultant Marcus Butler, who works at St Vincent’s Hospital group and University College Dublin, said: “When asthma is picked up early and managed well, children generally do extremely well.”
Dr Butler said written action treatment plans help families know how to “prevent flare-ups, manage symptoms, and recognise when emergency help is needed”.
The Asthma Society of Ireland survey, marking World Asthma Day, shows that over half of parents missed work days due to their children’s illness. Some 61% said that, in the last three months, their child woke with asthma symptoms.
More than half said sport or other physical activity was curtailed by symptoms.
In 2023, the HSE’s National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) found that the combination inhaler Fostair was not cost-effective at the manufacturer’s submitted price. Ms Carroll MacNeill told the Dáil in March that drug pricing falls under the Health (Pricing and Supply of Medical Goods) Act 2013 and the NCPE.
- Niamh Griffin, Health Correspondent
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