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Clinical guidelines are systematically developed statements designed to help practitioners and patients make decisions regarding the appropriate health care for specific circumstances. Guidelines are based on the scientific evidence on therapeutic interventions. The first asthma guidelines were published in the mid 1980s when asthma became a recognized public health problem in many countries. The Global Initiative on Asthma (GINA) was launched in 1995 as a collaborative effort between the NHLBI and the World Health Organization (WHO). The first edition was opinion‐based but updates were evidence‐based. A new update of the GINA guidelines was recently available and it is based on the control of the disease. Asthma guidelines are prepared to stimulate the implementation of practical guidelines in order to reduce the global burden of asthma. Although asthma guidelines may not be perfect, they appear to be the best vehicle available to assist primary care physicians and patients to receive the best possible care of asthma.

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This document was developed by a consensus conference initiated by Kristian Thygesen, MD, and Joseph S. Alpert, MD, after formal approval by Lars Rydén, MD, President of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), and Arthur Garson, MD, President of the American College of Cardiology (ACC). All of the participants were selected for their expertise in the field they represented, with approximately one-half of the participants selected from each organization. Participants were instructed to review the scientific evidence in their area of expertise and to attend the consensus conference with prepared remarks. The first draft of the document was prepared during the consensus conference itself. Sources of funding appear in Appendix A. The recommendations made in this document represent the attitudes and opinions of the participants at the time of the conference, and these recommendations were revised subsequently. The conclusions reached will undoubtedly need to be revised as new scientific evidence becomes available. This document has been reviewed by members of the ESC Committee for Scientific and Clinical Initiatives and by members of the Board of the ESC who approved the document on April 15, 2000.*