A Northern Ireland council area has some of the highest emergency admission and death rates for lung conditions in the UK.
That's according to analysis by leading lung charity Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland, which found that Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council is also the third worst area for respiratory deaths in the UK.
People living in this area are amongst the most likely to be admitted to hospital in an emergency and die from their lung condition in the UK.
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The new analysis lists the ABC council area within the top 10 UK hotspots for highest emergency admissions and death rates for lung conditions alongside Manchester, Blackpool, Liverpool and East Ayrshire.
It took a near-fatal asthma attack for Anouska Black from Craigavon to realise how dangerous it can be. She now wants to help raise awareness of the seriousness of asthma and campaign for better care in her local area.
Anouska said: “I was just five when I was diagnosed with asthma. Many of my friends and family have it, including my partner and two of our children. People don’t really take it seriously as it’s so common where we live.
“Seeing this report really hit home. It made me think, why is it so bad here? What can be done to protect our children in the future?
“Three years ago, I had a nearly fatal asthma attack, it was terrifying. I was admitted onto the respiratory ward, where I spent 5 days on oxygen. One of my lungs almost collapsed and I was minutes away from death.
“It’s important to me that I share my experience to hopefully help make a difference. I hope in the future there’s more action to prevent people getting lung conditions such as tackling air pollution. We shouldn’t wait until people get sick before we help them, there must be a better way.”
When focusing on just respiratory admission rates, Belfast, Derry City & Strabane and Fermanagh & Omagh top the ranks for having the worst rates of emergency hospital admissions for lung conditions.
High smoking rates in some areas also play a part in the high rates of emergency admissions, for example, in Belfast, where an estimated fifth of the adult population smoke.
The charity, which has launched its End the Lung Health Lottery campaign, analysed and ranked the latest rates of emergency hospital admissions and deaths from lung conditions including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and respiratory infections like flu and pneumonia, for 216 local authorities throughout the UK.
Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland says that despite the tireless work of NHS doctors and nurses across the health trusts, basic levels of care for people with lung conditions is patchy. The reasons for such high rates of emergency admissions and deaths in some areas is likely due to health inequalities.
Many of the areas with poor lung health are areas where people experience higher levels of deprivation, which can lead to problems like having no choice but to live in poor quality housing, where cold, damp and mould can all be triggers for asthma attacks or cause lung conditions to worsen.
There are also areas with historically higher smoking rates, meaning that even if people were able to move to areas with lower emergency admissions and death rates, they wouldn’t necessarily experience better outcomes for their lung condition if underlying causes such as smoking, poor housing and exposure to air pollution aren’t addressed.
In addition, Northern Ireland is still without an ambitious Lung Health Strategy and has no set date for a smoke free NI. Poor air quality also plays a vital role, it can hinder children’s lungs development and can trigger life-threatening asthma attacks and COPD exacerbations.
Northern Ireland urgently needs a functioning Executive to deliver on the draft Clean Air Strategy. The charity stresses these three key policies could help tackle health disparities, promote better lung health and help reduce emergency hospital admissions in Northern Ireland.
The charity is now urging the Department of Health to end the lung health lottery by investing in earlier diagnosis, improved care, and respiratory research and innovation.
Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma + Lung UK Northern Ireland, said: “It’s appalling that people across Northern Ireland are struggling to breathe, are being rushed to hospital in an emergency and that so many are dying avoidably from their lung conditions.
“We know that people in more deprived areas are more likely to have worse lung health, often with no choice but to live in poorer quality housing, more polluted areas with higher smoking rates. We need to tackle the lung health lottery head on.
“To do better, the Executive must get back to work and address the stark inequality in lung health and ensure the NHS has the resources to support its dedicated staff. People at risk of or living with lung conditions can’t simply move to improve their lung health, it is health inequality we must battle.
“We must ensure people living with a lung condition get an early diagnosis, have help quitting smoking, can breathe good quality air and receive the right support and treatment to manage their lung condition well.
“We're here to help everyone with a lung condition, wherever they are, and we want to urge everyone to take lung conditions seriously by joining our End the Lung Health Lottery campaign.”
A DoH spokesperson said: "Officials from the Department of Health and the Public Health Agency met with the NI Assembly’s All Party Group on Lung Health in January 2023 and that included representation from Asthma and Lung UK. It was made clear that in the absence of a Minister we would be unable to launch a new strategy.
"However, prior to the pandemic a range of professionals met under the auspices of what was known as the Respiratory Forum for NI, including representation from all HSC Trusts, primary care and local charities. The forum focused on steering respiratory service improvement in the direction of NICE guidelines, emergent best practice and the Respiratory Service Framework 2015.
"This group is being reformed and a stakeholder event is being arranged to take place in May. Asthma and Lung UK have been invited to participate. The group will evaluate the current priorities across the range of respiratory disease, including asthma, but also including many other conditions and services such as COPD, Interstitial Lung Disease and home oxygen services, to name but a few. Using this event, we will set priorities for improvement in all local services including asthma.
"The Department recognises that smoking rates are unacceptably high in socio-economic deprived areas and disadvantaged people who smoke are identified as a key priority group in the Department’s tobacco control strategy and actions in the accompanying implementation plan aim to reduce those high smoking rates. In particular, NI has extensive free smoking cessation services, many of which are available within or near socially and economically disadvantaged communities.
"The current Tobacco Control Strategy’s overall aim is to achieve a tobacco-free society. It is clear from the experience of others that have committed to a set smoke-free target date (which is defined as smoking prevalence rate at 5% or less), that such a goal cannot be achieved without innovative approaches, robust action plans and appropriate funding.
"The Department therefore intends to consider such a target in parallel with the development of a successor tobacco control strategy later this year. Addressing the continued high smoking prevalence rates in socio-economically deprived areas will be a key part of those considerations."
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