UK must act on allergies after 'decades of neglect', charities and doctors say

The government must improve allergy prevention, diagnosis, and management, according to a group of charities, doctors, and patients, who say the UK has some of the highest allergy rates in the world.

The group, which has found that allergies affect 39% of children and 30% of adults in the UK, has developed a National Allergy Strategy, which was presented to Westminster this week.

The strategy, which is the first UK-wide framework for improving allergy care, aims to tackle "decades of policy neglect", according to the National Allergy Strategy Group (NASG).

It aims to improve awareness and governance of allergies, such as asthma, hay fever, food and drug allergies, and calls for all four UK governments and the NHS to recognise allergic disease as a major long-term condition.

“For too long, despite the scale of the problem, too little has been done to develop solutions,” said NASG chair Professor Adam Fox.

“This strategy focuses on system-level change, embedding allergy into national policy, strengthening safety in everyday environments and improving accountability across health, education, food and workplace settings”.

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Source: ITV, 20 April 2026