title: The burden of asthma in children: a Latin American perspective.
abstract: Worldwide, studies on asthma prevalence have shown major rises over the last 30 years. The impact on the burden of asthma is being increasingly recognised. In some countries in Latin America, the prevalence of asthma is among the highest in the world. Asthma admissions are very common in children, leading to high costs for the health systems of those countries. Unfortunately, Latin America has limited resources to pay for appropriate treatment. The main goals of the international guidelines for asthma treatment are not being met. However, asthma programmes operating in some countries are showing promising results in reducing asthma admissions and consequently decreasing the burden of asthma. Local adaptation of international guidelines must be implemented in order to decrease costs and optimise outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Fundação Faculdade Federal de Ciências Médicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil. gbuenof@terra.com.br
authors.forename: Gilberto Bueno
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: Paulo Augusto Moreira
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Camargos
authors.forename: Helena Teresinha
authors.initials: HT
authors.lastname: Mocelin
mesh_terms: D001249:Asthma / Q000191:economics* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D017281:Cost of Illness; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011788:Quality of Life