A recent survey reveals many patients delay or avoid purchasing asthma medications due to their cost
A new survey of 104 healthcare professionals and 627 asthma patients (or their parents) has revealed widespread concern over cost-related non-adherence, with many healthcare professionals reporting that patients are regularly forced to skip or ration their medication.
Over 90 per cent of surveyed healthcare professionals reported that, in their clinical experience, patients delay or avoid purchasing prescribed asthma medication due to cost, while 85 per cent observed patients have modified their medication usage patterns, such as skipping doses or reducing frequency, due to cost concerns.
Sixty-four per cent of healthcare professionals surveyed support full subsidisation of asthma medication
in Budget 2026. Over three-quarters (75.9 per cent) of healthcare professionals surveyed observed a correlation between poor housing and asthma exacerbations in their patients.
Subsidisation
The Asthma Society of Ireland’s pre-Budget submission, Backing Every Breath, Building Better Care, calls for phased subsidisation of asthma medications that prioritises combination inhalers, increased capacity in the healthcare system, and free home energy upgrades for low-income households.
On the issue of increased healthcare system capacity, the Asthma Society is calling for the Government to ensure that every Severe Asthma Clinic in the country is resourced with at least one fully qualified Advanced Nurse Practitioner, and that funding is ringfenced to re-open and fill previously unfilled Respiratory Physiologist posts.
An overwhelming majority feel that Government should take action in the Budget to reduce
the financial burden of asthma on households
Prof Marcus Butler, Medical Director of the Asthma Society and consultant respiratory physician at St Vincent’s University Hospital, responded to the survey findings: “When people with asthma face financial hardship, many are forced to choose between the treatment that they need and other household priorities, such as paying the mortgage. My colleagues and I see it in our clinical practice regularly.
“Combination inhalers are considered the gold standard in asthma treatment for most asthma patients. They are proven to be extremely effective in controlling asthma and reducing symptoms which, of course, has a positive knock-on effect for the patient and the healthcare system. Combination inhalers, however, are expensive, which can be prohibitive to patients, as our survey suggests.”
Mortality
Prof Butler continued: “The most recent CSO figures available to us show that 87 people died from asthma in 2022, with provisional figures indicating this trend has continued into 2023 and 2024.
The majority of these deaths are preventable. As a priority, the Government must ensure that asthma medication is accessible to everyone who needs it. We recognise that this cannot happen overnight, which is why we’re calling for a phased approach towards universal subsidisation, starting with the most effective maintenance inhalers.”
Eilís Ní Chaithnía, CEO of the Asthma Society of Ireland, said the political will to act is now urgently needed: “The survey finding that so many people with asthma are finding it difficult to make ends meet is, unfortunately, a surprise to no-one in the asthma community. Asthma imposes a heavy financial burden, with some medications costing up to €80 a month. With a combination of targeted investment and taxation measures, we can bring asthma under control, reduce exacerbations, hospitalisations and preventable deaths, and improve quality of life for hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland. But it will also require political will.”
Key survey results
(Asthma Society of Ireland survey of 104 healthcare professionals, May–June 2025)
- Delayed or avoided purchasing medication due to cost: 2.9 per cent ‘always’, 53.9 per cent ‘often’, 36.5 per cent ‘sometimes’ – over 90 per cent in total.
- Observed patients modifying asthma medication usage due to cost: 85 per cent.
- Observed correlation between poor housing and asthma exacerbations: 75.9 per cent.
- Believe full subsidisation of asthma medication should be addressed in Budget 2026: 64 per cent.
The survey also included 627 asthma patients or their parents in the same time span:
- Almost a quarter of respondents (24 per cent) had to forego asthma medication at times in the previous three months due to financial constraints.
- More than half of respondents (56 per cent) said that they experienced a range of difficulties in making ends meet (4 per cent with great difficulty, 15 per cent with difficulty, and 37 per cent with some difficulty), with a quarter (25 per cent) having gone into arrears on mortgage or rental payments, utility bills, hire purchase or other loan payments, at least once over the previous 12 months.
- An overwhelming majority (96 per cent) feel that the Government should take action in the Budget
to reduce the financial burden of asthma on households. Three- in-five respondents (61 per cent)
are calling for full subsidisation of asthma medications, with one-in- six (16 per cent) looking for energy efficiency grants for people with chronic respiratory conditions to
be addressed, and one-in-nine (11 per cent) urging an expansion of specialist services in regional areas. - More than two-thirds of respondents said that their, or their child’s, daily activity was either limited (58 per cent) or severely limited by asthma (10 per cent).
- More than half of respondents described their asthma, or their child’s asthma, as fair (38 per cent), bad (11 per cent) or very bad (4 per cent).
