Footnotes

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• Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

• Competing interests MLL: reports speakers fees or fees for expert consultation from Clement Clarke International, Teva, AstraZeneca, Chiesi, Respiri, Trudel Pharmaceuticals, Soar Beyond, Orion Pharmaceuticals, Napp Pharmaceuticals, National Services for Health Improvement (a company providing services for general practices, ie, nurse asthma reviews), Novartis Pharmaceuticals and GlaxoSmithKlein; grants from Consorcio Futuro in Richerce and non-financial support from Asthma and COPD (Joint) Lead for Whole Systems Integrated Care (WSIC) NorthWest London and the Global Initiative on Asthma (GINA) outside the submitted work. LF: reports grants from Asthma UK, and speakers fees or fees for expert consultation from Teva, AstraZeneca, Sanofi, Respiri, Novartis; all fees paid direct to her institution and outside the submitted work.

• Provenance and peer review Commissioned; externally peer reviewed.