Children in poverty are 70% more likely to develop asthma for life. We know that children from poorer backgrounds, who live in disadvantaged circumstances, tend to have a much higher risk of developing asthma, but they also have more asthma attacks, hospitalisations and are more likely to die from asthma, Sonia Saxena, Professor of Primary Care within Imperials School of Public Health.

Asthma is a leading cause of school absence in areas of multiple deprivation. On average there will be two children with asthma in every classroom and in our worst-hit areas, there are 50 per cent asthma rates among children. Disruption to education is therefore more prominent amongst children from low-income backgrounds.

Asthma diagnoses are increasing - in 2020, there were 368,000 people in Scotland living with asthma, including 72,000 children and these figures will be an underestimate. UK-wide asthma death rates are amongst the highest in Europe, which has been linked to both failures in healthcare provision and lack of awareness.

An estimated 75% of hospital admissions for asthma are avoidable and as many as 90% of the deaths from asthma are preventable (National Review of Asthma Deaths). 113 people in Scotland died from an asthma attack in 2020.

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