Asthma in New Zealand:
Over 521,000 people take medication for asthma − one in nine adults and one in seven children (New Zealand Health Survey).
Large numbers of children (3,552 or 410.3 per 100,000 in 2015) are still being admitted to hospital with asthma, and some of these will have had a potentially life-threatening attack (Telfar Barnard et al., 2016).
By far the highest number of people being admitted to hospital with asthma are Māori, Pacific peoples and people living in the most deprived areas: Māori are 3.4 times and Pacific peoples 3.9 times more likely to be hospitalised than Europeans or other New Zealanders, and people living in the most deprived areas are 3.7 times more likely to be hospitalised than those in the least deprived areas (Telfar Barnard et al., 2016).
The cost of asthma to the nation is over $858 million per year (Telfar Barnard et al., 2016).
An average of 63 people died each year from asthma between 2008-2013 (Telfar Barnard et al., 2016).
For more information visit Asthma and Respiratory Foundation NZ.
