ASTHMA sufferers in Southampton will get better care thanks to the launch of a new "asthma charter".

The charter, called A Breath of Fresh Air, features ten points outlining the rights people with asthma should expect to receive from the National Health Service.

Launched on the back of World Asthma Day on Tuesday, the charter comes after figures showed an estimated 13,320 people in Southampton are suffering unnecessarily because the NHS is not providing a high enough standard of care.

The National Asthma Campaign research revealed that 74 per cent of the 18,000 people with asthma in Southampton face real restrictions on their quality of life when, with proper healthcare management, they could be living virtually symptom-free.

The new charter provides a guide to the minimum standards of asthma care which people can take to their GPs.

It aims to empower people with asthma and guide doctors and nurses in the bid to reduce asthma symptoms and improve people's overall quality of life.

The world-renowned Asthma, Allergy and Inflammation Research (AAIR) charity at Southampton General Hospital runs free drop-in clinics at various venues across the city.

The service is being forced to close at the end of June, despite a campaign by the Daily Echo to save it, because of a lack of cash.

Donna Covey, chief executive of the National Asthma Campaign, said: "The human cost of asthma is immeasurable.

"So far the government and the NHS have done little to alleviate the plight of those people with asthma who struggle needlessly every day with asthma symptoms."