The Finnish Allergy Program 2008-2018: Society-wide proactive program for change of management to mitigate allergy burden

Are there differences in the treatment information received to support guided self-management between asthma and allergy patients?: A community pharmacy survey in Finland

“…In our study, 73% of asthma patients received a written action plan which is slightly more compared with previous studies, which might be due to the recent national level programs in Finland focusing on respiratory diseases. 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 As a comparison, in the United States, 34% of children and 26% of adults who visited emergency department due to asthma had a written action plan. 8 In Australia, 37% of adult and 47% of pediatric asthma patients had received a written action plan from primary health care 9 and more recently, it was found that only 17% of adult asthma patients had received a written action plan in Australia.…”

“… 23 The survey and its prior versions were conducted earlier by Skin and Allergy Hospital of Helsinki University and Association of Finnish pharmacies in 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2010. 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 24 , 25 , 26 …”

“…In Finland, since 1994 when the National Asthma Program began 15 , 16 which was later developed and continued by the National Allergy Program until 2018, 17 , 18 asthma patients and more recently allergy patients, have been particular concern and focus by health care professionals. The emphasis of these programs was on self-management guided by physicians, nurses and pharmacists.…”

“…The emphasis of these programs was on self-management guided by physicians, nurses and pharmacists. 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 Previous studies from Finland shows that at the population level, physicians and pharmacists are the main sources for treatment information. 20 Among asthma patients pharmacists 21 and primary care physicians and nurses 22 have been recognized as important sources for treatment information, while little is known about this among allergy patients.…”

Planet earth is knocking on the doctor's door

“…In clinical practice, endorsing nature relatedness, “what you breathe, eat, drink, and touch,” was a paradigm shift. Over 10years, the prevalence of asthma and rhinitis levelled off, and food allergy, occupational allergy, and asthma hospitalizations halved 5 . The societal costs were reduced by €201 million over 10years and the cumulative, deferred saving was €1.2 billion in a country with a population of 5.5 million 6…”