Make Inhaled Treatments Accessible for ALL, Say Respiratory Health Organizations

Glenview, IL – On World Asthma Day 2025 (May 6), the call to action is clear: “Make Inhaled Treatments Accessible for ALL.” To highlight the lack of access to inhaled medicines for asthma and COPD in low-resource, high-burden settings, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is launching an education campaign called Increasing Access to Inhaled Medicines. The campaign will engage governments, the United Nations (UN), global health agencies, industry, donors, and civil society organizations to take coordinated action to ensure the availability of proven, effective treatments. The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) is a founding member of FIRS.

Asthma affects more than 260 million people and causes more than 450,000 deaths each year. It is also the most common chronic disease in children and adolescents, affecting around 15% of young adolescents globally. Most of these deaths are preventable. Inhaled corticosteroid-containing medications are essential for managing asthma and preventing life-threatening attacks. But in many low- and middle-income countries—where 96% of global asthma deaths occur—access to these proven treatments remains dangerously limited.

Frontline health care professionals are critical to improving outcomes for people with asthma—doctors and health care professionals are urged to ensure that every individual with asthma receives appropriate, evidence-based treatment. This includes prescribing essential inhaled corticosteroid-containing medications—either alone or in combination with a reliever—to reduce the persistent burden of preventable asthma-related morbidity and mortality.

On World Asthma Day, FIRS and its members call on all sectors to step up efforts to “Make Inhaled Treatments Accessible for ALL.”

About the American College of Chest Physicians
The American College of Chest Physicians^®(CHEST) is the global leader in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases. Its mission is to champion the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication, and research. It serves as an essential connection to clinical knowledge and resources for its 22,000+ members from around the world who provide patient care in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. For information about the American College of Chest Physicians and its family of journals, including the flagship journal CHEST^®, visit chestnet.org.

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies
The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organization comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally. The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve lung health through the combined work of its more than 70,000 members globally.

FIRS comprises the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latinoamericana de Tórax (ALAT), European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).