Christine Jenkins

Hi, Norman.

Hi, Priya.

Well, no, in part, you're right.

We are telling people not to use the blue puffer, but we have not achieved very much in that regard.

And so people are increasingly using more of the blue puffer and not actually taking anti-inflammatory medications.

And we now have new guidelines that advise medical practitioners, and hopefully patients will hear this too, that there is no role for blue puffer, that is short-acting reliever medication, alone for asthma.

But let me go back, first of all, to the comment you made, well, isn't it done and dusted because people aren't dying from asthma?

In fact, people are still dying from asthma.

But more importantly, the comment you made about people doing poorly with asthma is what we are trying to address.

And so, for instance, in a study that compares people with asthma in Australia in 2012 to 2021,

What we see is increasing numbers of people, a greater percentage of people with asthma who have poor asthma control, who rely only on their short-acting reliever, who don't take their anti-inflammatory medication at all,

and who are more likely to have attacks of asthma that result in not just going to the emergency department or an unscheduled visit.

This is even much more important is the fact that they take inhaled corticosteroids and oral corticosteroids.

So inhaled steroids are highly effective

and very, very safe oral corticosteroids, short-acting causes of prednisone, are really dangerous.

Cumulatively, they cause major side effects over the long term, things like potentially osteoporosis, weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, cataracts.

So we don't want people taking short-course oral steroids to fix their asthma, and we do want them to take

more anti-inflammatory reliever.

And indeed, this blueprint, the future of asthma, a bold blueprint for asthma reform in Australia, does highlight that as a key issue.

We do have liberal availability of short-acting reliever over the counter.