Asthma is a chronic lung condition that causes occasional breathing difficulties to varying degrees.¹ It often starts in children but can appear for the first time in adults.¹ An estimated eight million people are living with asthma in the UK² and of these, around 200,000 people have severe asthma, the most serious and life-threatening type of asthma.³ Severe asthma can be a debilitating form of the disease that may not respond well to conventional treatments,⁴ leaving these patients more at risk of asthma attacks and asthma-related hospitalisation.⁵ Patients with asthma are at risk of asthma exacerbations (attacks), regardless of age, severity, adherence to controller medication, or asthma control.^6,7,8 Exacerbations are a major cause of morbidity and mortality;⁹ even patients diagnosed with mild asthma are at risk of an exacerbation.⁷

At AstraZeneca, one of our core ambitions is to deliver sustainable leadership that prioritises healthy people, a healthy planet and a healthy society. This is why we have funded progressive research like the SABINA CARBON UK study that demonstrated over-use of short-acting beta agonist (SABA) inhalers resulted in an increased carbon footprint, and conversely, better controlled asthma can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We are also collaborating with Hull and East Yorkshire on the SENTINEL Project, an on-going quality improvement initiative, which is supported through a Joint Working Agreement between Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Hull York Medical School and AstraZeneca UK.¹⁰ The SENTINEL Project developed an intervention to implement the local asthma guideline which has a focus on reducing SABA over-reliance and using Maintenance and Reliever Therapy (MART) for appropriate patients. SENTINEL is now being implemented in more than 300 primary care networks (PCNs) across the UK via SENTINEL Plus.