A new report from the Asthma Society of Ireland into the treatment of severe asthma in Ireland has found the condition significantly impacts patients’ wellbeing and quality of life and places a substantial economic burden on individuals and society. Among the challenges listed in the report Towards Optimal Severe Asthma Care, are delayed diagnosis and treatment of patients, the financial pressure on both a personal and state level, and the lack of awareness of severe asthma as a distinct and debilitating disease. Approximately 450,000 people in Ireland currently have asthma, and between three per cent and 10 per cent of that patient population has severe asthma. However, unlike many other countries, Ireland does not have a national registry of severe asthma patients. Professor Marcus Butler, Consultant Respiratory Physician at St Vincent’s Hospital said, “We can currently only estimate the number of people in Ireland with severe asthma based on prevalence rates in other jurisdictions and on the numbers of people we treat in specialist clinics. This represents a significant challenge — it’s hard to make the best policy, budgetary or service decisions if we don’t know the full extent of the situation. A severe asthma registry could provide accurate, reliable and more up-to-date information about the treated and not-yet-treated patient population and the disease.”