Nearly a quarter of respondents to a survey by the Asthma Society of Ireland have said they went without asthma medication in the previous three months because of its cost.
Combination inhalers, the “gold standard” for asthma control, cost between €65 and €85 each and are going up in price, ASI chief executive Eilís Ní Chaithnín told The Irish Times.
“It may seem manageable, but it’s not for a quarter of the people who responded to our survey”, said Ms Ní Chaithnín. “People are really struggling.” This is especially acute at pinch points, such as the beginning of the new school term when people have extra household costs, she said.
The ASI said the price of medication combined with cost-of-living pressures have caused an “affordability crisis” for the estimated 450,000 people living with asthma in Ireland.
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Of the 627 patients or their parents who respondent to ASI’s survey, 56 per cent said they had experienced difficulties making ends meet.
The cost burden on people with severe asthma, which requires much greater amounts of medication to control it, is even higher.
“That’s €80 a month for the rest of my life, it’s a financial commitment,” said Emily Smyth, who was diagnosed with severe asthma in her 20s and is a recipient of the drug payment scheme.
“[Medication is] not something you can forgo safely. But people are backed into a corner and have to choose between paying their mortgage, their bills or their medication,” Ms Smyth said.
ASI’s submission describes “systemic gaps” in asthma diagnosis and treatment which create a long-term financial burden from poorer health outcomes.
The organisation is calling on the Government to allocate €14 million to subsidise asthma medications in 2026.
Prof Marcus Butler, medical director at ASI, said subsidisation of inhalers was important because “[they] are proven to be extremely effective in controlling asthma and reducing symptoms which, of course, has a positive knock-on effect for the patient and the healthcare system.”
“The most recent CSO figures available to us show that 87 people died from asthma in 2022, with provisional figures indicating this trend has continued into 2023 and 2024. The majority of these deaths are preventable”, he said.
The society also suggests that the threshold for the drugs payment scheme be reduced by €8 to €72 and that prescription charges for medical card holders be abolished, at an estimated cost of €84.5 million to the exchequer.
They want further attention to be paid to severe asthma patients and free home energy upgrades for people with chronic respiratory conditions at risk of energy poverty.
“By these relatively inexpensive measures the Government can enhance the lives of those hundreds of thousands [of asthma patients]. We’ve been calling on the Government for years to subsidise medication and today we’re offering a very pragmatic approach," Ms Ní Chaithnín said.
“Financial barriers should never be a reason that we don’t seek healthcare”, Ms Smyth said.
“We should all have access to care, we should all have access to medication.”
