Following a long fought campaign together with Asthma UK, Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage, is delighted that the Government has changed the law and from 1st October children now have access to a spare emergency inhaler when having a potentially life-threatening asthma attack.
Stephen McPartland MP, who is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Respiratory Health, initiated a campaign four years ago calling on the Government to change the law to allow spare emergency inhalers to be held in schools as the existing legislation prevented schools from doing this because they are prescribed medication.
Stephen McPartland MP said, "I am absolutely delighted we have been successful and I would like to thank Asthma UK and their supporters who helped make this happen. It was completely ridiculous that children's lives were being out at risk simply because of a technical point of law. It has been a four year campaign, but we have won and thousands of children now have access to an emergency inhaler during an asthma attack in school. I am very proud that we have made this difference and believe it will help save children's lives and reduce hospital admissions due to severe asthma attacks."
Kay Boycott, Chief Executive of Asthma UK, said, “With the support of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Respiratory Health and its Chair Stephen McPartland, as well as thousands of Asthma UK supporters, we are delighted to have secured this vital change in the law to help keep children with asthma safe at school. Asthma kills the equivalent of a classroom of children every year in the UK and every single day 84 children are admitted to hospital for emergency treatment for asthma. The Health Minister acknowledged that there is overwhelming support for this change, and it will undoubtedly be a huge relief to millions of parents across the UK.”
Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt said: “Children with asthma, and their parents, should not have to worry about suffering an asthma attack without having the necessary medication - and this common-sense change is an important step forward.”
There are over 1 million children with asthma in the UK and every two minutes a child has a potentially fatal asthma attack. Previous research by Asthma UK highlighted that 86% of children had been without their own inhaler because it was lost, forgotten, broken or had run out. That will mean that more than 900,000 children will benefit from this change in the law as they will now have access to a spare emergency inhaler. Previous legislation meant that it was illegal for schools to hold a spare emergency inhaler in their first aid kits.
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