On 29 April 2019, the Forum of International Respiratory (FIRS) attended and presented comments at the interactive multi-stakeholder hearing at the United Nations in New York. The hearing was part of the preparatory process for the UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC), which will take place on 23 September 2019 in New York.

“Universal Health Coverage” is a call for more effective and universal medical care, where all people receive the health services they need without suffering financial hardship.

Air pollution kills an estimated 7 million people worldwide every year. World Health Organization (WHO) data shows that 9 out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants. 

Ambient air pollution

There are 4.2 million deaths every year as a result of exposure to ambient (outdoor) air pollution. Ambient air pollution affects everyone−rich and poor, developed and developing countries, but it hits the hardest where the exposure is greatest, low and middle-income countries.

Tobacco is one of the greatest health threats the world has ever faced. It is estimated to have killed 100 million people in the twentieth century and could kill 1 billion in the twenty-first century, if left unchecked

Tobacco, used in the manner it is intended, causes a terrible toll of disease, death, and despair.

This World TB Day, 24 March, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) urges governments to leverage the success of the first-ever United Nation (UN) High-Level Meeting (HLM) on the fight against tuberculosis (TB), held in 2018. The meeting produced a UN political declaration on TB and endorsement at the highest level to take the necessary steps to end the TB epidemic.