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.
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.
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.
Read the latest response statement:
In English (09/04/2019)
In German (29/01/2019)
Was treibt die Lungenärzte an?* –Better respiratory health for all!
In response to an article published in Frankfurter Allgemeine on January 24, 2019, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) respectively disagrees with the group of about 100 pulmonologists and agrees with the German national standards, the European standards, and the World Health Organization (WHO) standards.
The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) warns that air pollution exposure affects many organs beyond the lungs, posing a great risk to health. Outdoor fine particulate matter exposure is the fifth leading risk factor for death in the world, accounting for 4.2 million deaths and 103 million disability-adjusted life years lost according to the Global Burden of Disease Report.
FIRS’ Environmental Committee published two articles in the journal CHEST on the effects of air pollution on health and evidence for its association with many diseases.
The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) would like to thank all organisations who have pledged to support World Lung Day (WLD) 2019.
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 2019 below.
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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 2019 WLD toolkit is now available view here.
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