Over the past thirty years, the prevalence of asthma and allergies has increased significantly in France, as in many industrialized countries. In metropolitan France, the current prevalence of asthma (asthma attacks and/or treatment in the past 12 months) is estimated at 5.8%, representing nearly 3.5 million people. Asthma is believed to be responsible for approximately 60,000 hospitalizations per year and nearly 2,000 deaths in 1999. Epidemiological studies conducted in Réunion indicate that this French department in the Indian Ocean is particularly affected by asthma (cumulative prevalence of diagnosed asthma among school-aged adolescents aged 13–14 estimated at 19%) and that management of this disease there is inadequate. The objective of this article is to describe asthma-related mortality in Réunion during the period 1990–1998, as well as asthma-related morbidity requiring hospitalization during the period 1998–2002. (Introduction)