Thousands of people miss life-changing asthma vaccines because family doctors don’t know they exist

A zip code lottery means that fewer than two percent of asthma patients in some parts of the country receive life-saving drug treatments.

Experts say this is because many family doctors are unaware of the injections and therefore do not refer patients to specialists.

The injections – called biologics – have reduced the number of hospitalizations and mean that severe asthmatics do not need to rely on inhalers.

But a new investigation shows that less than 16 percent of eligible asthma patients received the drugs.

At this rate, it would take until 2061 for only half of the people who need organic products to have access to them.

Asthma patients are missing crucial injections because their GPs are unaware of them, new research shows (file photo)

Currently, asthma is treated with a combination of inhalers and regular steroid tablets (file photo)

Almost a third of eligible patients in Derby were able to obtain a biologic prescription, but less than two per cent in Frimley, Surrey, benefited.

Experts are calling on the NHS to ensure equal access to the crucial asthma medicine across the country.

“These medicines have made a huge difference to patients,” says Dr Deepak Subramanian, an asthma specialist at University Hospitals Derby.

“The treatments reduce the number of asthma attacks, improve patients’ quality of life and mean they are less likely to go to the emergency room.”

More than five million people across Britain have asthma, a chronic disease that causes inflammation in the lungs and makes breathing difficult.

Around 200,000 have severe asthma, meaning they are likely to be treated in hospital for severe symptoms at least four times a year.

Asthmatics are treated with a combination of daily inhalers, sometimes up to four different types, and regularly taking steroid tablets.

New biological medicines, administered every two months, reduce side effects and have been shown to be more effective than steroid treatments.

Also known as monoclonal antibodies, they block proteins released by the immune system that worsen lung inflammation.

To be eligible for treatment, patients must meet criteria, including testing to demonstrate whether they have the type of asthma for which biologics are effective.

Analysis suggests that more than 80,000 people across England could be eligible for organic products.

However, data presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Vienna last month shows that few, if any, patients in parts of the country have received the shots.

In Coventry and Herefordshire, eight per cent of eligible patients received biologics.

The rollout has also been slow in parts of London – where new medicines are often adopted first – with 9% meeting the criteria to receive the jabs.

Almost a third of eligible people in North Cumbria and North West London received biologics. Experts say this disparity is due to a lack of knowledge about biologics among general practitioners and patients.

They add that the lack of NHS guidelines indicating which patients should receive biologics means the decision is at the doctor’s discretion.

“We need national prescribing guidelines so that all eligible patients have the opportunity to take biologics,” says Dr. Hitasha Rupani, an asthma expert at the University of Southampton.

“These medicines can change lives for the better, so access should not depend on where you live.”

Campaigners add to the lack of specialists familiar with biological results, as those receiving a prescription experience delays. “Even after being referred to a specialist, the average waiting time before starting biological treatment can be over a year due to long waiting lists,” says Sarah Sleet, chief executive of Asthma + Lung UK.

“It is vital that everyone who needs organic products gets their lives back on track by accessing them quickly, no matter where they live.”

The new biological injections, administered every two months, reduce side effects and prove to be more effective than steroid treatments (file photo)

One young patient whose life has been changed by biologics is Poppy Valentine Hadkinson, from Stratford-upon-Avon.

After four asthma attacks left her fighting for her life in her early 20s, TV presenter Poppy told her mother she didn’t think she would make it to her next birthday.

Ten years later, his quality of life completely changed after he was prescribed a monthly biological medication called omalizumab.

Since starting treatment, Poppy has not been hospitalized with an asthma attack and no longer needs an inhaler.

But she only got a recipe by chance. “No one mentioned taking a biological treatment to me,” she says. “It was only after I was transferred to a new consultant, following another hospitalization at the age of 22, that I was told these medications existed.

‘My life changed after the first month of treatment. I managed to achieve my dream career as a presenter, I got married this year and I can do all the things I never thought I would be able to do.

‘I thought I was out of options and almost lost my life. There are so many people like me who would benefit from treatment.