A new survey from the Asthma Society of Ireland has revealed that most people with the condition do not have their asthma under control.
The society has urged people to be aware of the steps needed to manage an asthma attack, such as sitting upright and taking long, deep breaths and taking a puff of the reliever inhaler every minute.
Sarah O'Connor, the society's chief executive, said that asthma deaths are on the rise and that one person dies every five days as a result of the condition.
According to the ASI survey, two out of three people with asthma do not have an asthma action plan and 60% do not have their asthma in control, greatly increasing the risk of suffering a fatal asthma attack.
Two out of three people with asthma have not spoken to their healthcare professional in the last six months.
Around 470,000 people in Ireland have asthma.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Ms O'Connor said many people also do not know that asthma can be fatal.
She said that action plans can help eliminate asthma deaths.
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"Research from the UK in 2014 indicated that in the case of people who did die as a result of asthma a huge proportion did not have an action plan, or it was not current and up to date for them.
"They have targeted in the UK, and out healthcare system here has targeted, delivering asthma action plans and having one for every asthma patient is a really key piece for eliminating asthma deaths in the future so we don't have one person every five days dying as a result of their asthma."
She said the action plan is based on a traffic light system and lets people know about their medication, what triggers their asthma and what steps they can take to control it.
Asthma awareness week continues until Friday.
The society's free advice line is 1800-44-54-64 and details of how to manage an attack with an asthma awareness plan are on its website.
