Optimal asthma control: refining our goals for the 21st century

Despite the availability of effective therapies, such as inhaled corticosteroids for the treatment of asthma, current levels of asthma control fall far short of those recommended in the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines.1 In order to address this issue there is a need for more accurate means of assessing asthma control. This was the focus of a recent Glaxo Wellcome-sponsored symposium at the World Congress on Lung Health and 10th European Respiratory Society Annual Congress [Florence, Italy; August-September 2000], chaired by Professor Tim Clark from Imperial College, London, UK, and Professor Leo Fabbri from the University of Modena, Modena, Italy.