Around 100 million people in Europe and North America have asthma,^1,2 equating to 6% of adults and 10% of children. In the UK, approximately 5.2 million patients (1.1 million children and 4.1 million adults) are currently receiving treatment for asthma and eight million have been diagnosed with asthma at some stage in their lives. The UK currently has the highest frequency of self-reported asthma symptoms among children aged 13-14 years in the world.