Chair of UK Inhaler Group Joins Speaker Panel for Asthma and COPD 2017

The chief executive of education for health and chair of the UK Inhaler Group, Monica Fletcher, will join a panel of speakers at the Asthma & COPD 2017 conference March 29-30 in London. Fletcher will discuss inhalers and patient compliance in the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

The UK Inhaler Group is a coalition of nonprofit organizations and professional societies with the common interest to promote the correct use of inhaled therapies. The group works to improve the outcomes of patients with respiratory conditions and to help the National Health Service (NHS) derive maximum value from inhaled treatment.

Fletcher will speak on the first day of the event about maximum use and impact of inhaled therapies, as well as the needs of patients and healthcare providers.

She will present key points about inhaler use, patient compliance and patient education. In particular, Fletcher will address questions related to how patients and healthcare providers describe inhalers; if technology can help patient adherence; and how organizations like the UK Inhaler Group can educate patients and healthcare providers.

In a press release, Fletcher uses AstraZeneca’s case to illustrate a good practice:

According to Fletcher, last year AstraZeneca changed the color of its Duaklir Genuair inhaler, which was blue, over concerns that patients could mistakenly use it as a “reliever” inhaler and not as a “preventer” inhaler, since blue coloring is recommended for use on “reliever” inhalers only and this could lead to misuse and confusion about the product.

Praising this change, Fletcher said, “We are delighted with the proactive response from AstraZeneca to collective concerns about the importance of color-coding inhaler devices and the potential for serious patient safety risks associated with the color of inhaler devices. By changing the color of the Duaklir Genuair inhaler we believe that greater clarity and patient safety will result.”

With this example, Fletcher sought to highlight the importance of collaboration to ensure that respiratory medicines are used safely by patients and that adherence to treatment is addressed.

Other topics to be covered by speakers at the Asthma & COPD 2017 conference include regulatory updates, COPD updates, therapeutic developments and novel approaches to treatment or electronic health monitoring. The conference also will count with two CPD certified pre-conference workshops, which will be hosted alongside the conference.

Early bird registration is open until Dec. 16.