But if the patient knows the proper way of treatment and takes measures to prevent asthma attacks, the cost will be reduced to about 7,000 yuan (US$850) a year.

Giving a report on a survey on the current status of asthma prevention and treatment in China, Zhong Nanshan, director of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, said yesterday in Beijing that most Chinese people have no idea of how to treat and prevent asthma effectively.

Asthma, a chronic disease of the respiratory tract, affects people of all ages and sometimes can be fatal. More than 100 million people in the world are afflicted with asthma and each year about 180,000 die of the disease. In China there are 15 million asthma patients.

A total of 400 asthma patients, who were chosen from nearly 27,000 families in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, were interviewed during the survey last September and November.

According to the survey, only 6 percent of asthma patients in China use inhaled corticosteroids, which is considered the most effective preventative treatment available.

However, in the United States, 86 percent of moderately affected patients and 77 percent of slightly affected patients often use inhaled corticosteroids.

The survey also shows that most asthma patients in China underestimate the harm of asthma to their health and life and do not understand the importance of preventative treatment.

About 76 percent of patients interviewed said that they did not have symptoms of asthma. However, it turned out that 94 of them experienced coughing and woke up because of asthma in the past four weeks.

(China Daily 04/26/2001)