New summaries distil major shifts in asthma care, reinforcing anti-inflammatory reliever therapy and curbing reliance on ‘blue puffers’.
A new suite of rapid-reference information sheets has been released to accelerate uptake of updated Australian asthma guidelines in primary care.
The summaries have a clear focus on reducing short-acting beta2 agonist (SABA)-only treatment and embedding inhaled corticosteroid (ICS)–based strategies as standard care.
Released as companion tools to the Australian Asthma Handbook Version 3.0, the five resources target areas identified as high priority for practice change, including:
- Overcoming Australia’s over-reliance on ‘blue puffers’ for asthma.
- Anti-inflammatory reliever is the recommended starting treatment for asthma.
- Maintenance-and-reliever therapy for asthma.
- Oral corticosteroid use in asthma: what’s safe and appropriate?
- Triple therapy for asthma in primary care.
Each summary provides consultation-ready prompts, tables and plain-language patient messages intended to support shared decision-making.
Dr Brett Montgomery, chair of the National Asthma Council Australia Guidelines Committee, said the materials were designed to help clinicians navigate a substantial shift in treatment paradigms.
He said that patient resistance to stepping up therapy remained a barrier, particularly when moving away from familiar SABA-only regimens, and that clear, evidence-based explanations could improve acceptance.
“The information sheets convey practical, readily accessible information on priority topics of the Australian Asthma Handbook to help clinicians identify the appropriate management approaches in consultations and to help to adopt the Handbook recommendations in everyday practice,” he said.
The updated Handbook explicitly recommends against SABA-only treatment in adults and adolescents, instead prioritising ICS-containing regimens to address underlying airway inflammation.
Anti-inflammatory reliever-only therapy and MART approaches are positioned as preferred strategies, reflecting evidence that symptom-driven SABA use alone does not reduce exacerbation risk.
Clinical Associate Professor Debbie Rigby, the NAC’s clinical executive lead, said it was an opportune time to produce this resource for primary care health professionals, following the launch of the updates guidelines last year.
“Suboptimal asthma control is prevalent in Australia and greater awareness of evidence-based guidelines and options for best practice management will help alleviate poorly controlled asthma in the community,” she said.
“The therapeutic approach to asthma has changed over the last decade, with a focus on alleviating chronic inflammation in the airways, not just addressing symptoms.
“The recommendations to avoid SABA-only treatment and shift towards inhaled corticosteroids (ICS-containing) therapy for all adults and adolescents requires substantial education and behaviour changes for patients. These resources will support clinicians with the implementation of the guidelines.”
She emphasised that the shift towards inflammation-focused management required both clinician confidence and patient education, particularly around the safety and benefits of regular or as-needed ICS use.
Related
The information sheets were developed by leading experts across five specialist working parties, including representatives from the NAC Guidelines Committee and Asthma Advisory Groups.
The experts included Dr Kerry Handcock, Professor Nick Zwar, Dr Amanda Lucci, Dr Montgomery, Professor Peter Wark, Professor Christine McDonald, Professor Tom Skinner and Professor Christine Jenkins.
The summaries were intended as quick-access tools rather than comprehensive guidance, which could be found in the Australian Asthma Handbook.
