How to promote guidelines on asthma management

Summary Difficulties to comply with prescribed therapy can be cause of failure to establish and/or maintain asthma control. All current guidelines recommend regular long-term treatment in patients with persistent asthma. This includes the administration of inhaled corticosteroids combined, when necessary, with long-acting bronchodilators and/or systemic steroids, administering inhaled short-acting β2-agonists only on a prn basis. It is becoming clear that in addition to therapy: a) education for an active partnership with patients remains the cornerstone of asthma management; b) education should be carried out by health care providers involved in asthma care; c) education to asthma self-management should be tailored to the needs of each individual patient.