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Healthy Lungs – Never More Important: World COPD Day

: 16 November 2021

Healthy Lungs – Never More Important: World COPD Day

17 November 2021

World COPD Day, 17 November 2021, is an annual global initiative run by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD), members of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS). The goal of World COPD Day is to raise awareness and present new knowledge and therapeutic strategies for COPD worldwide.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a preventable and treatable disease that causes breathlessness, chronic sputum production and cough. There are 300 million current cases of COPD in the world, and it is currently the third leading cause of death globally and highly prevalent in low resource countries. Exposure to tobacco smoke and other inhaled toxic particles and gases are the main risk factors for COPD, although recent research has identified that suboptimal lung growth before and after birth can also increase the risk of COPD later in life.

This year’s theme, “Healthy Lungs - Never More Important” emphasizes that the burden of COPD has not gone away - even during the COVID-19 pandemic, COPD remains a leading cause of death worldwide. This year’s campaign aims to promote lung health by highlighting the importance of staying active, keeping appointments with healthcare providers, reducing exposures, maintaining good nutrition, taking medications correctly, getting vaccinated, participating in pulmonary rehabilitation where available, and taking COVID-19 precautions.

Initiatives to reduce the burden of COPD are taking place worldwide, including smoking cessation programs, measures to tackle both indoor and outdoor air pollution, as well as examining childhood disadvantage factors. Although there is no current cure for COPD, actions to improve quality of life can take place anywhere by a variety of individuals in many types of settings. 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, healthcare providers and policy makers can work together to improve access to spirometry, essential medications and other treatments, including telehealth and other types of healthcare access for patients in remote settings.

FIRS invites everyone to participate in World COPD Day events on the 17 November 2021. Further information about GOLD and World COPD Day can be found at www.goldcopd.org/world-copd-day

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

More information on COPD:

GLOBAL STRATEGY FOR THE DIAGNOSIS, MANAGEMENT, AND PREVENTION OF CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE (2021 REPORT)

Projections of Global Mortality and Burden of Disease from 2002 to 2030. Mathers CD, Loncar D. PLoS Medicine. 2006 Nov 28; 209–22

Global efforts must be strengthened to end the preventable burden of pneumonia

: 10 November 2021

Global efforts must be strengthened to end the preventable burden of pneumonia: The Forum of International Respiratory Societies

12 November 2021

On World Pneumonia Day, 12 November, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) calls for urgent and expedited progress to end the preventable burden of pneumonia.

Pneumonia is the single biggest infectious killer of adults and children – claiming the lives of 2.5 million in 2019, including 672,000 children. Boosting efforts to fight pneumonia could avert nearly nine million child deaths from pneumonia and other major diseases by 2030.[1]

Most pneumonia deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and many are preventable. Exposure to indoor or outdoor air pollution, poor nutrition and lack of vaccination remain major modifiable risk factors for childhood pneumonia. With health facilities struggling with COVID-19, many do not have an adequate supply of oxygen and only 1 in 5 children in low-income countries can access oxygen when they need it [2]. On this World Pneumonia Day, FIRS is asking governments to urgently step-up efforts to strengthen prevention and provide affordable medicines and oxygen to these communities.

The COVID-19 pandemic, with almost 241 million cases globally and 4.92 million deaths to date, has highlighted the importance of pneumonia. Furthermore, it has underscored the disproportionate burden of pneumonia, in low- and middle-income countries and particularly in marginalized communities. Exposed to high levels of air pollution and with poor access to vaccinations and affordable medicines and oxygen therapy, these vulnerable populations carry a huge burden of illness and death.

To end the preventable burden of pneumonia we must work together to:

Raise awareness about pneumonia, the leading killer of young children.
Strengthen, accelerate and sustain interventions to prevent and treat pneumonia.
Focus on equitable access to, and delivery of, comprehensive pneumonia prevention and control programs.
Design strategies to reach vulnerable populations to improve their access to available interventions.

FIRS calls on governments to:

Improve equitable and sustained access to effective pneumonia prevention and control interventions.
Strengthen health systems that promptly and effectively deliver strategies to reduce pneumonia deaths, including provision of effective antibiotics and oxygen delivery systems.
Increase support for strategies to prevent pneumonia including immunisation with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and COVID-19 vaccines, reducing exposure to tobacco and air pollution, and increasing access to safe drinking water and sanitation.
Support research on innovative diagnostic, prevention and treatment strategies. https://www.clintonhealthaccess.org/severe-pneumonia-leaves-4-2m-children-desperate-for-oxygen-each-year

Together, we can end preventable deaths from pneumonia.

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

[1] Modelling by Johns Hopkins University, reported by Save the Children, shows that scaling up pneumonia treatment and prevention services can save the lives of 3.2 million children under the age of five. It would also create ‘a ripple effect’ that would prevent 5.7 million extra child deaths from other major childhood diseases at the same time.

[2] https://www.clintonhealthaccess.org/severe-pneumonia-leaves-4-2m-children-desperate-for-oxygen-each-year

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS)

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.

World Lung Day 2021 Partners

: 02 June 2021

WLD logo final large

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) would like to thank all organisations who have pledged to support World Lung Day (WLD).

WLD falls on 25th September and is a day to rally advocacy for respiratory health and air quality globally. You can see the full list of organisations supporting WLD 2020 below.

No signed up yet?

If you would like to support WLD please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

View WLD partner logos below or view the World Lung Day partner list.

The 2021 World Lung Day toolkit will be available soon.

On World Lung Day FIRS calls for global investment in respiratory health

: 24 September 2021

On World Lung Day FIRS calls for global investment in respiratory health

Respiratory diseases a leading cause of death worldwide, despite being preventable and economical to treat.

Embargoed 25 September 2021: Cape Town, Glenview, Lausanne, Montevideo, New York, Paris, Tokyo

Today, on World Lung Day (WLD), members of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) and WLD partner organisations are calling for respiratory health to be a top priority in global decision-making beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Global Impact of Respiratory Disease report, launched today, despite cost-effective health interventions being available, respiratory diseases remain a leading cause of death and disability. Nearly 200 million people, or 4% of the world’s population, have COPD and 3.2 million die of it each year, making it the third-leading cause of death worldwide.

In the context of the current global COVID-19 pandemic it is easy to overlook the lethality and disabling impacts of ongoing respiratory illnesses. For example, even in a ‘normal’ year asthma affects more than 350 million people and is the most common chronic disease of childhood worldwide. Pneumonia kills more than 2.4 million people annually and is a leading cause of death among children younger than five and adults older than 65. More than 10 million people develop TB and 1.4 million die of it each year, making it the most common lethal infectious disease next to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 4.5 million people, largely from respiratory causes.

Lung cancer kills 1.8 million people each year. In addition, there is a need to tackle air pollution, with at least 2.4 billion people exposed to indoor air pollution, and 90% of all people breathing outdoor air that exceeds WHO guideline limits, especially in low- and middle-income countries. More than 1.3 billion people are exposed to tobacco smoke.

“It is urgent to place acute and chronic respiratory diseases on the high priority list of actions at every level and change the future of respiratory and general health worldwide”, says Mark Cohen, President FIRS 2021-2022.

“Interventions to prevent and treat respiratory diseases are among the most cost-effective available—a “best-buy” in the view of the WHO. Genuine investment in respiratory health will pay exponential dividends in longevity, healthy living days, and national economies.”

FIRS calls for these essential actions to reduce the burden of respiratory disease and improve global health:

Improve awareness among the public and policy makers that respiratory health is vital to global health and that childhood respiratory disease has long-term negative consequences on adult health.
Reduce, and then eliminate, use of all tobacco and smoking products.
Adopt and adhere to WHO standards, at a minimum, to reduce ambient, indoor, and occupational air pollution for all countries.
Implement universal access to quality health care, including the availability of affordable, quality-assured, essential medicines, oxygen and universal coverage for all effective childhood and adult immunizations including vaccinations for COVID-19.
Improve the prevention and early diagnosis of respiratory diseases.
Increase education and training of health-care professionals in respiratory disease worldwide.
Standardize the monitoring and reporting of respiratory diseases to enable development of better-informed national strategies through WHO and governmental and nongovernmental organizations programs.
Boost funding for respiratory research to develop programs, tools, and strategies to better prevent and treat respiratory diseases

Significant progress on these issues will help to eliminate respiratory diseases from the top 10 leading causes of death in the world.

About World Lung Day

World Lung Day is an annual lung health awareness day, occurring yearly on 25 September. To date nearly 200 organisations and many more individuals support WLD through lung heath advocacy and action. This year, with respiratory health firmly in the spotlight, it is a great opportunity to raise awareness of the burden of respiratory disease. To learn more about World Lung Day and download the fact sheet, graphics go to the World Lung Day Toolkit.

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.

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

World No Tobacco Day 2021

: 26 May 2021

On World No Tobacco Day (31 May, 2021) the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), calls on governments and policymakers to make greater political and financial commitments to support and promote tobacco cessation services.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco use kills more than 8 million people each year. Tobacco use also remains the main and most preventable cause of lung disease among both adults and children, and it is well-understand that the “big five” respiratory diseases (asthma, COPD, lung cancer, tuberculosis, pneumonia) and other acute lower respiratory tract infections are caused or worsened by tobacco product use and second-hand smoke exposure.

Despite this, smoking-cessation treatment remains poorly implemented in healthcare around the world; according to the WHO Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic, only 23 countries worldwide offer cessation services that WHO describes as meeting best-practice levels.

Tobacco and nicotine addiction is not a lifestyle choice, but a chronic relapsing disorder that should be treated accordingly. When nicotine, the psychoactive component of tobacco, is inhaled, it reaches the brain rapidly and is highly addictive. Most smokers want to quit, but evidence has shown that only 3–5 percent of people who attempt to quit without professional medical support succeed after 6 months, highlighting the need for professional assistance when quitting tobacco.

In support of WHO’s World No Tobacco Day 2021 year-long global campaign to help 100 million people quit tobacco, FIRS urges policymakers and healthcare regulators to act urgently to:

Make greater political and financial commitments to support tobacco and nicotine product cessation services that provide evidence-based effective treatments, including behavioural support or motivational interviewing in combination with pharmacotherapy.
Optimise health systems by providing system-level tobacco cessation interventions, from primary care to secondary care, community programmes, and internet support.
Support the implementation and enforcement of comprehensive tobacco control policies, such as those outlined in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, to prevent tobacco product use and protect public health.

The unprecedented response to the COVID-19 crisis demonstrates more than ever the importance and effectiveness of making meaningful policy changes to tackle health challenges. FIRS urges policymakers to act now and help people to quit tobacco for good, protect public health and save lives, and reduce the burden on healthcare systems that is caused by tobacco product use.

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