MANILA, Philippines -- Control of asthma remains a problem in the country where 12 percent of the population or approximately 10.7 million Filipinos are afflicted with the respiratory condition.

A study of the Asthma Insights and Reality in the Asia Pacific Region (AIRIAP) shows that most Filipinos with asthma would rather endure the condition through “stop-gap” remedies than take control of the disease.

At a roundtable discussion held at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel in Manila on Monday, one of the AIRIAP investigators, Dr. Teresita De Guia, who is also a pulmonary specialist at the Philippine Heart Center, disclosed that the study, which covered 12 countries, showed that the management of asthma remained low in the symptom control index.

Among the countries covered by the study are: China, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Viet Nam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. The study is the second of its kind to be conducted from 2000.

During the first AIRIAP study conducted in 2000, only three percent of asthma patients in the countries controlled their conditions through the use of preventive inhaled corticosteroids (ICS), 55 percent partly controlled asthma through quick relief bronchodilators, and 42 percent did not.

In the country, a measly one percent controlled asthma, 31 percent partly controlled the condition and 69 percent of the respiratory condition did not.

A slight improvement in the country was noted in the AIRIAP2 study, conducted in 2006, which involved 4,805 patients, where two percent controlled their asthma, and 49 percent partly controlled their conditions and the rest did not.

De Guia concluded, “Asthma control in the country has not significantly improved, ICS is still underused and patients still underestimate their asthma control.”

“You have to control the asthma, which is a very unpredictable and variable disease,” the pulmonary specialist stressed.

“Still we are not using frontline medication for asthma. We only use stop-gap measures which is a very Filipino reality,” De Guia said, referring to the unpopularity of ICS among asthmatic patients, which would make the respiratory condition manageable.

She said that despite the absence of a total cure for asthma, it could be managed through the prevention of “airway hyperactivity ” or chronic inflammatory disease of the air passages caused by hypersensitivity and hyper-responsiveness to stimuli and the development of broncho spasms.

She said government subsidies for the treatment and control of asthma would be needed.

ICS, she revealed, would cost P900 a month. It is to be used twice a day, while the quick-relief bronchodilators cost less but the effect lasts only for four hours.

Uncontrolled asthma, De Guia emphasized, would cause disturbed sleep, shortness of breath, and increased visits to doctors.