Cost of living crisis expected to hit asthma sufferers
113 people died of asthma-related illness in 2020
Asthma sufferers are expected to be hit hard as a result of the cost of living crisis.
Poverty is one of the main drivers of asthma, with children and young people three times more likely to die from an asthma attack if they live in poverty.
113 people died of asthma-related illness in 2020, though it's believed with more support and education on the disease that 90% of those deaths are preventable.
The Asthma and Allergy Foundation are calling for urgent action to be taken, with CEO Martina Chukwuma-Ezike saying the country is facing a "public health catastrophe".
“I thought I had seen poverty in Africa, but what I have seen in Scotland has shocked me"
Ms Chukwuma-Ezike, who is also Rector at the University of Aberdeen, said: "We are facing a public health catastrophe for asthma sufferers in Scotland because of the rocketing poverty rates.
"In some school classrooms in our worst-hit areas, there are 50% asthma rates among the children.
“I thought I had seen poverty in Africa, but what I have seen in Scotland has shocked me."
She continued by saying that a national campaign is urgently needed to prevent more deaths.
"Nobody should die from an asthma attack in this day and age but, sadly, three people in the UK die from this every day.
“We need an urgent conversation around the link between asthma and poverty in light of the current cost-of-living crisis.”
“We need a national campaign led by the Scottish Government - the public should know what to do in an asthma attack."