An update of the Australian Asthma Handbook will advise that as-needed budesonide/formoterol can be used as a first-line treatment option for mild asthma.

The National Asthma Council Australia said it was flagging the changes ahead of a broader mid-July update of its handbook because the PBS listing for AstraZeneca’s budesonide/formoterol inhaler, Symbicort, was changed on Monday to cover mild asthma.

The combination inhaler has been subsidised as a treatment for moderate asthma but from today it will get PBS funding for treating any patient with mild asthma who is aged 12 or older.

The PBS change followed a long-running global debate on the potential of as-needed combination inhalers to ensure patients with mild asthma receive inhaled corticosteroids.