Dr Noela Whitby AM, has been appointed as the new chairman of the National Asthma Council Australia, the peak asthma body in the country.

She succeeds Prof John Wilson who served on the National Asthma Council Australia Board as the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand's representative from 2000 and held the position of chairman for the past three years.

According to National Asthma Council Australia chief executive officer, Kristine Whorlow, Prof Wilson was a driving force for the Council.

"John has played a significant role in asthma education and research both locally and internationally and has contributed significantly to guideline development. He acted decisively to ensure the future success of the National Asthma Council Australia," she said.

The new chairman of the National Asthma Council Australia, Dr Noela Whitby, is a Brisbane-based general practitioner with a long interest in asthma management.

In addition to her role as a director with the National Asthma Council Australia since 2006, she has been a member of the Council's GP Asthma Group since 1991 and a member of the Medical Advisory Committee of the Asthma Foundation of Queensland since 1988.

As chairman of the National Asthma Council Australia, Dr Whitby will be working to ensure asthma continues to be treated as a national health priority by both government and medical and allied health professionals and she is focussed on continuing to cut the asthma death rate by encouraging a greater uptake of planned annual reviews of asthma for all patients who are on medication.

She said: "Every Australian on asthma medication should have a written asthma action plan tailored to their specific needs. As part of that annual review, I would like to see all patients, and especially children, managed on the lowest effective dose of treatment that will maintain optimal control. For example, doctors could consider options such as back titration."

Dr Whitby also cites asthma in an ageing population as an issue that must be tackled head on.

"We all want to see asthma deaths fall even further and to do that we will need to tackle the complex issue of asthma as part of multisystem chronic disease management in the ageing population," she said. "This will be one of my priorities as National Asthma Council Australia chairman."

Assoc Prof Peter Wark has also been appointed to the National Asthma Council Australia Board, replacing Prof Wilson as the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand's representative.

Prof Wark is a staff specialist with the Centre for Asthma and Respiratory Disease at the Hunter Medical Research Institute, University of Newcastle and the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital. His current research interests include the role of virus infection in acute exacerbations of airways disease and their influence on airway inflammation.

Continuing Board members are Mr Peter Holder, community pharmacist from ACT, who is the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia representative; respiratory physician and allergist, Prof Janet Rimmer representing the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy; and, Asthma Foundations Australia representative, Mr Max Franchitto.

Brief Profile
Dr Noela Whitby AM
Chairman, National Asthma Council Australia

Dr Noela Whitby obtained her Medical Degree from the University of Queensland and holds postgraduate diplomas in Human Nutrition (Deakin University) and Practice Dermatology (Cardiff University, Wales).

She is the principal of a multi-doctor general practice, which has been established in Brisbane for over 30 years, and she is involved in the training of GP registrar medical students.

In 2006, Dr Whitby was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (AM) for services to the community and to the medical profession.

Her achievements include:

• Member of the Medical Advisory Committee of the Family Planning Association of Queensland and of the Scientific Committee of the Women's Health Education and Research Society Inc.
• Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners.
• Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
• Director of the Australian Council of Health Care Standards and the Australian Council of Health Care Standards International.
• Immediate past chair of the National Expert Committee on Standards of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited.

For further information, or to arrange an interview with a National Asthma Council Australia spokesperson, please contact:

Kelly Ward
M. 0407 860 834 

Content Updated 6 April 2009