KOCHI: Bringing cheer to asthma patients, the digital dose inhaler has come to Kerala, as a first in the country. It provides accurate digital dose counter that ensures high precision drug delivery along with low dose warning indicator. In India, 50 to 70 percent of asthma patients do not adhere to prescribed treatment regimen using the conventional inhaler and suffer in the long run.
According to WHO estimates, 300 million people are suffering from asthma globally, and that could further increase by 100 million by 2025. There have been 2,50,000 deaths per year globally, 57,500 of them in India. Today, there are about 35 million asthmatics in India and about 40% patients have uncontrolled asthma and over 60% partially controlled.
Experts say non-adherence to prescribed dosage leads to poor control symptoms, worsening the quality of life and high mortality rate. As per the estimates, globally over 50% of patients have asthma that is not well-controlled.
The new device enables patients to track the number of doses consumed and the prominently placed indicator provides low dose warning. Use of empty canister and also without sufficient dose of medicine in the traditional inhalers which leads to non-adherence to prescribed dosage can be avoided.
