Members' Business — S6M-12707 Emma Harper: World Asthma Day 2024

That the Parliament notes World Asthma Day 2024, which will take place on 7 May 2024; recognises that the Global Initiative for Asthma, supported by the World Health Organization, will this year mark the theme of "Asthma Education Empowers"; understands that around 360,000 people, including 72,000 children, have an asthma diagnosis in Scotland; further understands that asthma is one of the most common chronic non-communicable diseases that affects over 260 million people globally, and is responsible for over 450,000 deaths each year worldwide, most of which are preventable, and that, according to the Global Initiative for Asthma, one of the key universal issues for which education is required is the under-diagnosis or inaccurate diagnosis, including of people with severe asthma, underuse of anti-inflammatory inhaled corticosteroid inhalers, overuse and over-reliance on short-acting beta2–agonist (SABA) inhalers, and poor recognition of patients requiring specialist assessment and further asthma care management; notes the reported difference in severe asthma compared with unstable asthma, and understands that poorly controlled severe asthma can take a toll on health and wellbeing; welcomes the Scottish Government’s Respiratory Care Action Plan, which aims to improve prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care and self-management of asthma and lung conditions; notes the calls on the Scottish Government to provide an update on the effectiveness of the plan in helping to improve outcomes for people living with asthma; welcomes the work of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland to improve asthma care in Scotland and to support people who receive an asthma diagnosis and their families; further welcomes the creation of the International Coalition of Respiratory Nurses (ICRN) in 2023, which brings together nurses and allied health professionals from across the globe to advance the care and treatment of patients with respiratory conditions, including asthma, and notes the view that better asthma care at all levels of healthcare can lead to better outcomes and lives for people living with asthma.