Preface

Numerous evidence based guidelines for diagnosis and management of bronchial asthma are available throughout the world. But there is a need for separate guidelines meant for the primary and secondary levels of health care in India. This is because of the differences in the overall health-care infrastructure, risk factors, disease prevalence and pattern. Also, a large prevalence of tuberculosis, which is an important cause of cough, adds to the difficulties of diagnosis and management in India. These guidelines have been developed at the initiative of WHO (India) under the WHO-Government of India Collaborative programme (2004-2005). A workshop was held in February 2005 with representative participation from several national professional bodies, medical colleges, general health sector, and other institutes. The recommendations were subsequently compiled and reviewed by the participants and other experts. The document, based on the evidence available in literature, represents the consensus reached at the Workshop. The primary care physician looks after patients of both paediatric and adult age groups. This statement therefore applies also to children at the primary health care level. Detailed guidelines of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics for management of asthma in children are already available. Definitions used for different levels of evidence have been listed as an appendix to this document. A summary handout is also available for routine clinical use.

These guidelines are also published in Indian Journal of Chest Diseases and Allied Sciences (2005;44:309-343).