Combination products for asthma are being increasingly prescribed for the management of people with moderate to severe asthma.

What are the clinical indications for prescribing combination therapy? What is the correct dose to start your patient on?

How often should you review the dose? How can you use combination therapy to improve medication adherence and quality of life?

These and other crucial questions will be answered in an up-to-date look at combination therapy, based on the latest evidence.

Viewers of this program will be able to:

• Understand the prescribing criteria for combination medications.
• Improve their ability to identify and assess people with asthma who may benefit from combination medication.
• Identify appropriate review periods and manage medication adjustment for asthma control.
• Enhance their ability to educate patients about combination medication dosage and titration and medication side effects.
• Identify the components of a comprehensive written asthma action plan.

— Chair: Dr Norman Swan, Presenter of the Health Report on ABC Radio National.
— Dr Kerry Hancock, General Practitioner, Happy Valley SA, Member of the NAC GPs' Asthma Group and a medical advisor to the Asthma Foundation of SA.
— Assoc. Prof. Peter van Asperen, Paediatric Respiratory Physician, Dept of Respiratory Medicine, The Children's Hospital, Westmead NSW.
— Assoc. Prof. Jo Douglass, Clinical Allergist, Immunologist and Adult Respiratory Physician, Dept of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, The Alfred Hospital, Prahran VIC.
— Mr Peter Holder, Community Pharmacist, Hughes ACT, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia representative on NAC Board of Directors and member of the NAC Pharmacists' Asthma Group.
— Mr Brett Lamb, Physiotherapist, Sea Cliff SA.
— Click here for more details about the speakers.

This program will be introduced by the Hon. Christopher Pyne MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing.

85 minutes.

This program was first broadcast on the Foundation's satellite network on Wednesday 30 March 2005 and repeated on Friday 1 April 2005.

Read East Arnhem physiotherapist Brett Lamb's introduction to his Burrwutjpuy Dhawu (Story about the Lungs).

This program is accredited for CPD/CPE by RACGP, ACRRM, RCNA and the PSA. Click here to evaluate this program and earn professional development points.

National Asthma Council

- National Prescribing Service – Therapeutic Advice and Information Service - phone 1300 138 677.
- Australian Government Department of Health & Ageing Asthma Information Papers – phone 1800 500 053.
- Asthma section of Healthinsite – An Australian Government initiative, funded by the Department of Health and Ageing, which aims to improve the health of Australians by providing easy access to quality information about human health.

- 815 Breathlessness in the Older Adult: Is It Asthma?
- 810 Balancing the Benefits: Asthma and Combination Therapy Update
- 720 Taking a Breather: Asthma Management for Indigenous Australians
- 703 Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis
- 316 Breathing Easy: Respiratory Disease in Indigenous Children
- 310 Asthma 3+ Visit Plan
- 306 New Directions in Paediatric Asthma Management
- 113 Asthma in the Older Person: A Coordinated Approach