Mukherjee 1

Isha Mukherjee

Mr. Speice

ISM I

21 September 2020

Asthma, the universal equalizer

Assessment 2 - Research

Date:​ October 12, 2018

Subject:​ Why is asthma so hard to treat

MLA citation:

Papadopoulos, Nikolaos G., et al. “Pediatric Asthma: An Unmet Need for More Effective,

Focused Treatments.” Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, 15 Nov. 2018,

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/pai.12990, 10.1111/pai.12990. Accessed 20

Sept. 2020.

Perry, Richard, et al. “The Economic Burden of Pediatric Asthma in the United States: Literature

Review of Current Evidence.” PharmacoEconomics, vol. 37, no. 2, 13 Oct. 2018, pp.

155–167, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40273-018-0726-2,

10.1007/s40273-018-0726-2. Accessed 20 Sept. 2020.

Assessment

When comparing the efficiency of asthma treatments between first and third world

countries it is important to create a baseline by determining how the healthcare system in

first-world nations compare with the healthcare systems in the third world nations. Oftentimes it
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is assumed that countries such as America and Canada can efficiently treat most diseases

whereas poorer countries can’t treat the most basic of conditions. This assessment debunks that

preconceived notion.

Asthma, a chronic respiratory illness that can be life-threatening at times (Papadopoulos

et al.), is universally one of the most common pediatrics illnesses. Developed countries and

less-developed countries alike struggle to effectively treat the illness due to medical inadequacies

and economic drawbacks. The average annual asthma treatment cost per child is between $3,076

and $13,612 (Perry et al.) in the United States. For most low income and third world families

these expenses are unaffordable. Additionally, many families may not have access to

transportation, can not take time off from work, and might not have the time to commute long

distances. It is important to remember that one of the many drawbacks of healthcare globally is

the lack of equal distribution of healthcare providers and facilities. To make matters worse

adequate treatment of asthma requires frequent hospital visits and frequent purchase of expensive

medication. Initially, this was very surprising because asthma is very common in the United

States, so one would think that it must be easy and efficient to treat. But after further thought, the

similarities between the treatment of asthma and diabetes become evident. Both are very

common illnesses in the United States, but very expensive to treat. Insulin is expensive because

of monopolies of few private companies, but why is the treatment of asthma so expensive?

One of the reasons why treating asthma is so expensive is because for an increasingly

common illness it lacks research. There is no proper definition and symptoms for what asthma is

which makes it difficult to observe and diagnose (Papadopoulos et al.). As of right now, pediatric

asthma is diagnosed based on criteria from adult asthma. This is shocking because the field of
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pediatrics was created because children and adults are so physiologically different that it is

inaccurate to treat children based on treatment standards set for adults. I also realized that asthma

is socially common but scientifically new and unknown. This explains why third world countries

treat asthma less adequately compared to developed nations because less developed nations lack

the resources and infrastructure to produce treatments and cures. As a developed country, the

United States is able to more adequately treat asthma because it has the infrastructure to find a

cure and run trials. The third world countries rely on developed nations to both create the

treatments and distribute them. Additionally, this relates to the previous findings because due to

limiting factors, people in third world countries do not seek medical attention until they are in

dire need. The lack of a proper definition and infrequent doctor visits causes many children to

get diagnosed with asthma late in life or not at all. This is not only problematic because it causes

undiagnosed suffering but also because early diagnosis can save both the asthma sufferer and

society to save significant amounts of money in the long term (Papadopoulos et al.). This is

important because for people in less developed countries every cent counts so if an early

diagnosis can save money in the long run, it is very important.

Asthma is undefined because its symptoms overlap with those of other conditions such as

allergies and it presents itself in different forms (Papadopoulos et al.). Additionally, children’s

immune systems are rapidly changing which makes it hard to run tests and come to a conclusion

that applies to all children under the age of eighteen. If scientists can determine the link between

immunologic mechanisms, a major component of the immune system, and developmental

milestones doctors will be able to diagnose asthma early on. That being said, this doesn’t seem to

be happening anytime soon which is concerning.

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As long as scientists aren’t able to find an effective cure/treatment for asthma it will

continue to strain the economy and people's bank accounts. 11.8% of people in the United States

below the poverty threshold suffer from asthma (Perry et al.). Due to a lack of evidence of the

inefficacy of certain asthma medicine, insurance companies may not reimburse the usage of

those medicines. This makes the medicine inaccessible to those who cannot afford to pay for

medicine out of pocket.This situation is very similar to the situation with insulin in the United

States. The cost of insulin is so high, it is completely inaccessible to those without insurance and

even those with insurance struggle to pay the non covered costs. This leads one to question if in

the future if there was a cure to asthma would it be affordable to those with and without

insurance. And would it be affordable enough for less developed countries to use?

To conclude, the reason why third world countries cannot efficiently treat asthma is that

there is no definite treatment, it is hard to identify, and it is a very expensive treatment, more so

if you lack the finances and resources to consistently get medication and see a doctor. Initially,

one would find it appropriate that third world countries struggle to treat asthma, but shockingly

first world countries face similar struggles. In retrospect, third world countries aren’t

disproportionately behind in the treatment of asthma. Moving forwards it is important to see how

different countries treat less common diseases. Hypothetically, in this situation the more

developed countries will be better off due to their economic advantage. In regards to a final

project related to asthma treatment, there’s not much a regular person can do because the

drawbacks lie in science.

Annotations:
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The Economic Burden of Pediatric Asthma in the United States: Literature Review of Current
Evidence

Pediatric asthma: An unmet need for more effective, focused treatments