Primary Care Respiratory Journal (2009); 18(2): 55-56 EDITORIAL Driving asthma care in Europe: the Brussels Declaration

agreed to develop a Declaration on Asthma. This Declaration has now been published.1 The IPCRG has a long-standing interest in identifying and describing the impediments to best asthma management. These issues have been debated at our biennial scientific meetings and elsewhere, papers have been published in academic journals,2,3 and educational & learning materials have been posted on our website (www.theipcrg.org). The issues include: the importance of accurate diagnosis; patients’ compliance with their prescribed medication; accurate inhaler technique; the impact on asthma control of co-morbid conditions such as smoking and rhinitis; the needs of individuals; and the difficulties in translating research into clinical practice. The Brussels Declaration seeks to highlight these (and other) areas of concern, as well as underperformance or the presence of out-dated practices in the management of asthma, and to propose achievable targets to tackle them.1 By design and necessity, the Declaration addresses clinical, organisational, academic, educational, research and geo-political issues, and the authors and signatories have a wide geographical spread and a variety of clinical backgrounds. It has been primarily aimed at a European level bu