Asthma Training Module (ATM), Asthma by Consensus (ABC) and asthma education.

It is my pleasure and privilege to present one of my action plans for this year, revised Asthma Training Module (ATM) and a book on Asthma By Consensus (ABC). The prevalence of bronchial asthma varies from country to country and in thesame country varies from state to state. The largest study group who conducted a study on prevalence of bronchial asthma is the ISAAC study group [1]. They studied the prevalence of bronchial asthma in 56 countries with the study population of 4.5 lakhs. As the principal investigator of this study from the state of Kerala, the data from Ettumanoor block area of Kottayam district showed the prevalence of 32.2% in children 13 – 14 years and 25 % in children 6 – 7 yrs (ISAAC Phase 1). Bronchial asthma is an iceberg disease [2]. Classical presentation with cough, wheeze, dyspnea and chest tightness is the tip of the iceberg and is seen only in 30% and remaining 70% present with atypical features. Patient education, along with pharmacotherapy is an integral part of asthma management [3].