Foreword by His Excellency Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, Former President of India WAO White Book on Allergy 3 Copyright 2011 World Allergy Organization I am delighted to have an opportunity of adding my strongest support to the principles laid out in this World Allergy Organization White Book on Allergy. Indeed, many of the recommendations align with those of a recent report on Allergy Services that I was asked to chair in 2006 for the UK House of Lords Committee on Science Technology (http://www.publications.parliament. uk/pa/ld200607/ldselect/ldsctech/166/166i.pdf). The scope of the Report encompassed an assessment of recent trends of allergy prevalence, the social and economic burdens that allergic disorders cause, current allergy treatments and research strategies, and policies which impact upon allergy patients such as housing standards, food labelling and the work and school environments. As with the White Book, our report came at a time when the prevalence of allergic disorders in this country has been claimed to have reached epidemic proportions. Although it is unlikely that a cure for all forms of allergy will be found in the near future, we have made a number of recommendations which we believe will contribute to the prevention, treatment and management of allergic disorders. Our main conclusions and recommendations were: 1) There is a need for Allergy centres where specialist, high quality diagnostic and treatment services that are accessible to the public. Once a diagnosis is obtained and a treatment plan developed at the allergy centre, the patient’s disease can often be managed back in primary or general secondary care. However, patients with severe or complex allergic conditions may need long-term follow-up from specialists in the allergy centre. Allergen immunotherapy by injection should always be carried out by specialists within the allergy centre because of the risk of anaphylaxis. Collaboration between clinicians in primary, secondary and tertiary care is key to improving the diagnosis and management of people with allergic conditions. Once established, the allergy centre in each geographical region should encourage and co-ordinate the training of local GPs and other healthcare workers in allergy. In a “hub and spokes” model, the allergy centre, or “hub,” would act as a central point of expertise with outreach clinical services, education and training provided to doctors and nurses in primary and secondary care, the “spokes.” In this way, knowledge regarding the diagnosis and management of allergic conditions would be disseminated throughout the region. The allergy centre should also act as a lead in providing public information and advice. Specialists at the centre should work in collaboration with allergy charities, schools and local businesses to provide education and training courses for allergy patients; their families; school staff and employers; in how to prevent and treat allergic conditions. 2) Because of the lack of knowledge of health professionals in the diagnosis and treatment of allergic diseases, we recommended that those responsible for medical training strengthen the input of clinical allergy to the undergraduate and postgraduate training of internists and primary care physicians as well of those of nurses. 3) Although high quality research into cellular and molecular mechanisms of allergy is advancing, the factors contributing to allergy development and the “allergy epidemic,” are poorly understood. It is imperative that further research should focus on the environmental factors, such as early allergen exposure, which may contribute to the inception, prevention or exacerbation of allergic disorders. We were concerned