This World COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) Day, 16 November, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is supporting ‘Your Lungs for Life’ –  the campaign for a lifelong focus on keeping lungs healthy as an integral part of future health and well-being. 

 World COPD Day, 16 November, is an annual global initiative run by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), a member of FIRS, to raise awareness of COPD worldwide.

 The ‘Your Lungs For Life’ campaign will raise awareness of contributing factors to COPD during all stages of life, what can be done to promote lifelong lung health and protect vulnerable populations. From pre-natal care, staying active, reducing toxic exposures, maintaining good nutrition, and getting vaccinated, people can give their lungs the best chance of staying healthy for life.

COPD is a preventable and treatable disease that causes breathlessness, chronic sputum production and cough.  COPD is currently one of the leading causes of death worldwide and is highly prevalent in low-income countries. It is estimated that three million people globally die each year due to COPD – a number which is expected to increase due to aging populations and continued exposure to risk factors like tobacco smoke. 

Exposure to tobacco smoke and other inhaled toxic particles and gases are the main risk factors for COPD, although recent research indicates that COPD results from a combination of genetic and environmental risk factors that occur over a lifetime.  This significant development in COPD shows the importance of monitoring lung health from childhood to adulthood.

Initiatives to reduce the burden of COPD are taking place worldwide, including programs for smoking-cessation, tackling both indoor and outdoor air pollution, and examining childhood disadvantage factors.

Although there is no current cure for COPD, there are a host of simple actions we can all take to mitigate it. For example, employers can strive for safe breathing environments, citizens can be good stewards of air cleanliness, and both patients and families can help advocate for more research and better access to care, including pulmonary rehabilitation and mental health services. 

In addition, providers and policy makers can work together to improve access to essential medications, telehealth and better access for patients in remote settings, and to make spirometry available - not only for diagnosis but also as a global health marker.

The goal of World COPD Day is to raise awareness and present new knowledge and novel therapeutic strategies for COPD worldwide.  Learn more about the 21^st annual World COPD Day and how to take part in events  here. 

Resources: GLOBAL STRATEGY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS, MANAGEMENT, AND PREVENTION OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (2023 REPORT)

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS)

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organisation comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally: American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latino Americana De Tórax (ALAT), European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).

The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve lung health through the combined work of its more than 70,000 members globally.

For more information about FIRS please contact Fiona Salter This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

On World AIDS Day, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies calls for increased access to lung cancer screening, but regions most affected lack resources.

This World AIDS Day,  the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is calling on the health care community to increase lung cancer screening for people with HIV who are current or former heavy smokers and may be at high risk for developing the disease.  As HIV- infected individuals have high smoking rates, smoking cessation should also be encouraged. 

Smoking, Lung Cancer and HIV Rates

“As antiretrovirals have prolonged the lives of people with HIV and made it more like a chronic disease, lung cancer has emerged as a leading cause of death in smokers living with HIV,” said American Thoracic Society President Gregory Downey, MD, ATSF. “Lung cancer is a major and preventable cause of death.  Screening done by chest CT scans, as well as stepped up smoking cessation efforts, may slow this trend.”

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among those with HIV/AIDS worldwide, and HIV-positive patients who smoke die at a significantly younger age than those who do not. Studies show that lung cancer occurs more often among people living with HIV than among the general population.

Some geographic regions are especially hard hit by both HIV and lung cancer. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to approximately half of the world’s HIV-positive population—20 million in all. These individuals have three times the incidence of lung cancer of people without HIV.  Several sub-Saharan regions have seen increases in the incidence of lung cancer in recent years. However, the need stands in great contrast to the limited resources and access to care in these regions. It is, therefore, critical that governments and health systems prioritize greater access and ongoing awareness campaigns in order to see improvements in lung cancer care.

People living with HIV have a higher risk of lung cancer than the general population. However, many people with this malignancy do not have symptoms at early stages.  Lung cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer, worldwide, accounting for 1.8 million deaths in 2020. 

Screening for Lung Cancer

Lung cancer screening, which may be done for smokers or former smokers who are at especially high risk, uses low-dose CT scans of the chest.  Research has shown that these scans can save lives, detecting abnormalities that may be cancer, before symptoms start.  Some research suggests that young (under age 55) people with HIV who are current or former heavy smokers may benefit from screening at an earlier age.

While studies have shown that screening with low-dose CT for current or former heavy smokers who are over 55 has saved lives, screening may not be for everyone in this age group.  It’s best to speak with one’s primary care provider or pulmonologist to determine if lung cancer screening is appropriate.

The Importance of Smoking Cessation

In general, HIV infected individuals lose more years of their lives from smoking than they do from HIV.  A large Danish study found that HIV infected participants lost a median of 12 years of life from smoking, while the median years lost to HIV in nonsmokers was 5.1.  This study illustrates the potential impact of smoking cessation. 

Symptoms of Lung Cancer

While pre-symptomatic detection is ideal, individuals with potential lung cancer symptoms should speak with a health care professional.  These symptoms, which may also indicate other diseases, include some, or all, of the following:

• A cough that doesn’t go away
• Coughing up blood
• Chest pain
• Wheezing
• Hoarseness
• Fatigue or weakness
• Unexplained weight loss
• Unexplained pain
• Recurring lung infections, such as pneumonia

For more on the impact of lung cancer and other respiratory diseases, see the Global Impact of Respiratory Disease Report. 

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies
The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organisation comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally. The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve lung health through the combined work of its more than 70,000 members globally.

FIRS comprises the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latino Americana De Tórax (ALAT), European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).

This World Pneumonia Day, 12 November 2022, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), is calling on governments and other stakeholders to take urgent action to tackle pneumonia - focusing on those who are at greatest risk of severe illness.

The combined effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution, and poor living conditions associated with conflict and climate change have contributed to pneumonia numbers – placing millions at risk of infection and even of death.

In 2021, the estimated burden of deaths from respiratory infections, including COVID-19, was a staggering 6 million people.¹

Pneumonia claimed the lives of 2.5 million, including 672,000 children, in 2019 alone, according to the Global Burden of Disease.²   That’s:

• One person dying every 13 seconds
• One child under 5 dying every 47 seconds
• One adult over 70 years dying every 26 seconds

Most deaths occur in the poorest populations in low and middle-income countries (LMICs).  Low vaccination rates or lack of immunisation, malnutrition, or exposure to cigarette smoke and air pollution are key factors that increase susceptibility to pneumonia and to severe illness.

Older adults exposed to air pollution especially from burning fossil fuels and smoking are also at risk. Almost half of the estimated 1.6 million pneumonia deaths among adults aged over 50 years are attributable to air pollution or smoking.³

To prevent, diagnose and treat pneumonia, this World Pneumonia Day, FIRS is calling on governments to:

• Strengthen health systems to deliver interventions which reduce pneumonia deaths, including provision of effective vaccines, antibiotics and oxygen delivery systems for all.
• Implement sustainable interventions that protect against, prevent, and treat pneumonia across age groups.
• Support research into prevention and treatment strategies such as simple, low-cost point-of-care diagnostics for pneumonia and cost-effective oxygen delivery systems.
• Raise awareness about the risk factors for pneumonia
• Ensure equitable and sustained access to prevention and treatment strategies globally.

In addition, vaccine education can be a pivotal tool in reducing pneumonia-related deaths. There have been important advances with new effective vaccines available against pneumonia including pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) and vaccines against SARSCoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19.  However, during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, PCV coverage dropped in 46 of 195 countries⁴ and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has predicted a large increase in child deaths if urgent action is not taken to vaccinate these children. Currently only 51% of the world’s children receive PCV.⁵

Pneumonia may have long-term consequences. Children who have pneumonia in early life have an increased risk of developing chronic lung disease such as asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) into adulthood.

Lack of medical oxygen has compounded the pneumonia emergency with LMICs bearing the brunt of oxygen shortages and related deaths.

“Although lack of oxygen has always been a key issue in LMICs, COVID highlighted this gap, with oxygen unavailability and related deaths mainly affecting LMICs,” said FIRS President Professor Heather Zar.

“There are an estimated 7 million children hospitalised with pneumonia each year who require oxygen and studies show that better oxygen systems can reduce mortality from childhood pneumonia by 50% or more.”

Media contact: Fiona Salter This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sources

^1.Global Burden of Disease, 2019 and WHO COVID-19 Dashboard.

^2,3.Global Burden of Disease, 2019.

^{4, 5} Every Breath Counts analysis of WHO/UNICEF Estimates of National Immunization Coverage 2021, published in Time for a New Approach to Protecting Children Against the Leading Threats to Their Survival, July 2022.

Further information

FIRS recommended actions to prevent pneumonia and pneumonia deaths:

• Vaccination programmes against the common germs that cause pneumonia such as pneumococcus, measles, Haemophilus Influenzae type b, pertussis (whooping cough), diphtheria, influenza and SARS-CoV2 should be made available.
• Good nutrition should be encouraged, including exclusive breastfeeding for the first 4-6 months of life, adequate complementary feeding and Vitamin A supplementation which may protect children from getting pneumonia.
• Persons of all ages should avoid and be protected from exposure to tobacco smoke and air pollution.
• Effective strategies to reduce pneumonia, include the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, early use of antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected children, as well as cotrimoxazole prophylaxis for HIV-infected children.
• All health services should ensure prompt access to antibiotics and oxygen therapy for those with pneumonia.

The Global Impact of Respiratory Disease report outlines major causes of respiratory disease and lays out recommendations for global action.

More on World Pneumonia Day from Stop Pneumonia.org

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies
The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organisation comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally. The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve lung health through the combined work of its more than 70,000 members globally.

FIRS comprises the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latino Americana De Tórax (ALAT), European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).