Abbreviation GAN Region served Global | Formation 2012 Chair Prof M.I. Asher | |
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Motto A world where no-one suffers from asthma Main organ Global Asthma Network Steering Group | ||
The Global Asthma Network (GAN) is a follow on from the now completed International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC). GAN is a collaboration between former members of ISAAC and members of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease(The Union). GAN is a worldwide network of study centres continuing the global surveillance of asthma in children established by ISAAC, and now including the surveillance of asthma in adults. The network aims to improve asthma care globally, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, through enhanced surveillance, research collaboration, capacity building and access to quality-assured essential medicines. GAN is responsible for the Global Asthma Report, which is released every three years, the most recently in 2014.
Contents
History
In 2012, concern from members of ISAAC and The Union that the Global Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) agenda overlooked asthma resulted in the establishment of GAN. GAN is a collaboration between former members of ISAAC, the largest collaborative epidemiological study of children in the world, and members of The Union. The Union and ISAAC collaborated to release the Global Asthma Report at the time of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) in New York on 19–20 September 2011. This report provided an overview of what was known about the causes and triggers of asthma, the global incidence, the progress made and the significant challenges currently and for the future. It demonstrated that the suffering and waste of resources caused by not managing asthma effectively are much greater than the cost of effective action. The ISAAC programme formally finished in December 2012. The Global Asthma Network operates on the same principle of collaborative and systematic application of standardised methodologies as the ISAAC programme. The GAN data centre operates from Auckland, New Zealand, communicating methodologies, analysing data, and maintaining the GAN website. The Global Asthma Network has merged the global asthma surveillance work pioneered by ISAAC with the activities that The Union has pursued over the years, including: a) field evaluation and research into the management of asthma, conducted by The Union’s Department of Lung Health and Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) with in-country partners, b) access to essential medicines, and c) operational research and capacity-building, notably through The Union’s Centre for Operational Research.
Mission
The Global Asthma Network, under the leadership of the GAN Steering Group, has a vision of ‘a world where no-one suffers from asthma’. The Global Asthma Network’s mission is: To prevent asthma and improve asthma care globally with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. The network will achieve this through enhanced surveillance, research, capacity building, and access to effective asthma care including quality assured essential medicines.
Organization
The Global Asthma Network currently has 280 centres located in 120 countries throughout the world and the number is growing. The GAN Steering Group, consisting of 11 scientists and clinicians selected from The Union and the former ISAAC network, and the smaller Executive Team are responsible for the administration of GAN and its activities. The GAN Steering Group includes members from New Zealand, Switzerland, France, Taiwan, Sudan, Spain, Chile, Australia and the United Kingdom, and many are members of or are advisors to other international bodies. The GAN Steering Group meets quarterly (via Skype) and annually in-person. The GAN Data Centre provides central co-ordination, receives data from GAN centres, and advises at all levels on methodology and other aspects of the programme. The Global Asthma Network has established worldwide networks with organizations concerned with health in developing countries such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies(FIRS), the International Congress on Pediatric Pulmonology (CIPP), NCD Child and the American Thoracic Society (ATS).
Activities
The Global Asthma Network targets three areas in its aim to improve asthma understanding, prevention and management at the global level.
Global asthma surveillance and research
GAN centres conduct worldwide surveys of (i) asthma symptom prevalence and associated risk factors in children and adults, and (ii) the implementation of management strategies, such as asthma plans and guidelines, in the control of asthma in children and adults. Data compiled from these surveys is included in the three yearly Global Asthma Reports, published in academic journals and presented at international conferences.
Asthma prevention and improving asthma care worldwide
GAN develops strategies for (i) asthma prevention, (ii) asthma management, and (iii) asthma capacity building, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. GAN also aims for improved access to effective asthma care, including quality-assured asthma medications, to all asthma sufferers worldwide.
Advocacy
GAN is lobbying for (i) the inclusion of asthma as a global health priority alongside, and complementary to, the other current global initiatives for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, (ii) the inclusion of asthma medicines on all countries’ Essential Medicines Lists, and (iii) the addition of essential asthma medicines to the WHO Prequalification Programme.
Impact
The first of the Global Asthma Network’s three-yearly reports, the Global Asthma Report 2011, highlighted issues surrounding asthma, and provided an overview current knowledge regarding the causes and triggers of asthma, global asthma prevalence, the implementation of management guidelines, and the progress being made. This report has been used in asthma policy development by health organisations around the world, including the WHO, the OECD, The European Respiratory Society, the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, and the Government of Australia. It has been cited in numerous research articles and news articles around the world including Africa, India and Germany and has been the subject of editorial comment.
The Global Asthma Network has since produced the Global Asthma Report 2014, which includes updated information on asthma management, the economic burden of asthma, and strategic and practical recommendations.