Exhale Asthma Knowledge: Optimizing Asthma in Saudi Arabia – The Chronic Nature of Asthma – Saudi Commission for Health Specialties

Asthma is a common respiratory condition affecting an estimated 300 million individuals worldwide. It is one of the most common chronic diseases in Saudi Arabia, affecting more than 2 million people. Asthma is associated with significant socioeconomic burden due to the direct cost of asthma treatment and the indirect cost of loss of productivity, absenteeism, hospitalization and a reduction in quality of life. Appropriate management can dramatically reduce asthma burden and improve quality of life. Unfortunately, many people are not reaching optimal asthma control, which is placing them at higher risk of poor outcome. The optimizing asthma control programs will review key learnings from The Saudi Initiative for Asthma – 2016 update: Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of asthma in adults and children and The Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2018 guidelines. The first program will provide clinicians with the asthma background and guideline recommended assessment of people with asthma.