Preface
Asthma affects an estimated 300 million individuals worldwide. It is a serious global health problem affecting all age groups. With increasing prevalence in many developing countries, rising treatment costs, and a rising burden for patients and the community. Asthma still imposes an unacceptable burden on health care systems, and on society through loos of productivity in the workplace and, especially for pediatric asthma, disruption to the family.
Health care providers managing asthma face different issues around the world, depending on the local context, the health system, and access to resources.
The global lnitiative for asthma GINA was established to increase awareness about asthma among health professionals, public health authorities and the community, and to improve prevention and management through a coordinated worldwide effort. GINA prepares scientific report on asthma, encourages dissemination and implementation of the recommendations and promotes international collaboration on asthma research.
The global strategy for asthma management and prevention was extensively revised in 2014 to provide a comprehensive and integrated approach to asthma management that can be adapted for local conditions and for individual patients. It focuses not only on the existing strong evidence base, but also on clarity of language and on providing tools for feasible implementation in clinical practice. The report was updated in 2015.
This pocket guide is a prief summary of the GINA 2015 report for primary health care providers. It dose NOT contain all of the information required for managing asthma, for example, about safety of treatment, and should be use in conjunction with the full in GINA 2015 report. GINA can not be held liable or responsible for health care administered with the use of this document, including any use which is not in accordance with application local or national regulations or guidelines.
The GINA 2015 report and other GINA publications (listed on page 28) can be obtained from