Asthma is an expensive disease, especially in Australia where the annual costs related to the illness is a staggering $28 billion per year.
The costs are divided into two classifications: economic and burden of disease. Economic costs refer to the amount of money spent on health care for asthma patients and the loss of productivity related to the decreased efficiency and absences among patients. The burden of disease, meanwhile, is composed of the premature deaths attributed to asthma.
According to a report by Deloitte, asthma is responsible for more than $3 billion of economic costs of which $1.2 billion can be attributed to annual health system. An additional $246 million is spent on travel costs and government programs, to name a few, while more than $630 million is caused by efficiency losses. Loss of productivity is $11 billion, and burden of disease costs are $24.7 billion. Carers are also significantly affected as each of them would lose as much as $11,740 for every asthma person.
The National Asthma Council Australia, which is one of the groups that commissioned the report, at least 395 Australians died of the disease. Older women are considered to be the highest-risk group. However, it also acknowledges that the rate of death of asthma has significantly fallen since 1989.
Asthma is a common chronic respiratory illness that involves negative changes of the airways due to exposure to certain triggers, which can include dust and pet dander. The airways become sensitive to these substances that they begin to become inflamed or swollen. Mucus can also build up, potentially blocking the airways. Muscles can also become tighter, further cutting off the amount of air the lungs can take.
Asthma is also related to other conditions such as eczema or atopic dermatitis, which is characterized by dry red skin due to inflammation, and anaphylaxis, a severe allergic reaction that is life threatening.
