UK has worst asthma record in Europe

The UK is still wheezing at the bottom of the European league table for lung health, a report has revealed.

The UK is still wheezing at the bottom of the European league table for lung health, a report has revealed. More people die from respiratory diseases such as asthma and pneumonia in the UK than in any other European Union country apart from Ireland, according the the European Respiratory Society (ERS). The report found that illnesses such as lung cancer, asthma, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) were now killing more people in the UK than heart disease. More people in the UK suffer from asthma than anywhere else in Europe – 5.1 million or around 13 per cent of the adult population. (Source: ITV Health News, April 2004)