Healthy Lungs for Life 2014 campaign in the best traditions of the Year of the Lung 2010

Respiratory Decade joins Healthy Lungs for Life campaign and will support it actively via our Respiratory blog and our Respiratory facebook groups and pages! 

In 2010 was started very ambitious initiative YEAR OF THE LUNG. YEAR OF THE LUNG was the most important and the most successful Respiratory campaign which emphasized the importance of public awareness about respiratory diseases. Speaking at the European Launch, Professor Nikos Siafakas, European Respiratory Society President 2010, said that the most respiratory diseases are both preventable and treatable, treatment however is very costly, and effective prevention policies in the EU and worldwide are severely lacking”.

Healthy Lungs for Life is one of the largest ever lung health campaigns, raising awareness of the importance of healthy lungs to healthcare professionals, scientists, primary care, patients, policy makers and the public through a full range of events, projects and promotional activities. In 2014, the theme is "Breathe clean air". 

Healthy Lungs for Life seeks to reduce the number of people suffering from respiratory disease by raising awareness and knowledge of lung conditions and ways to prevent lung damage.

In 2014, Healthy Lungs for Life aims to:

• Increase knowledge of the impact of poor air quality on lung health
• Raise awareness of the actions that everyone can take to protect their own lungs from indoor and outdoor air pollution.

Organizers said: We are inviting respiratory professionals and the public from across the globe to join us in this campaign and we can help you by providing resources and materials to host your own events. We are also holding a number of events to coincide with the European Respiratory Society International Congress 2014 across Munich and at the Congress centre itself. The more people supporting and taking part in events, the more powerful the messages will be.

Healthy Lungs for Life campaign 2014: continuing success of the Year of the Lung 2010

Hundreds of millions of people suffer every day from lung diseases, and they cause almost 20% of all deaths in the world. Increased awareness about lung diseases is vital, because they are killing more and more people every year and account for a socioeconomic burden of €102 billion due to health care costs and lost working days in Europe alone. The ‘Big Five' lung disorders are lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), pneumonia, tuberculosis (TB) and asthma. The impact of lung diseases remains as large today as it was at the turn of the century and is likely to remain so for several decades. Each year in the EU, one in eight of all deaths are due to respiratory diseases and lung conditions cause at least 6 million hospital admissions.

In 2010 was started very ambitious initiative YEAR OF THE LUNG. YEAR OF THE LUNG was the most important and the most successful campaign which emphasized the importance of public awareness about respiratory diseases. Speaking at the European Launch, Prof Nikos Siafakas, ERS President 2010, said that the most respiratory diseases are both preventable and treatable, treatment however is very costly, and effective prevention policies in the EU and worldwide are severely lacking”.

The "Healthy Lungs for Life" initiative will be launched in 2014. The concept behind this initiative is to develop a long-term health awareness campaign that will speak not only to those already affected by lung disease, in order to improve their quality of life, but also to those who may be affected in the future. The objective is to focus on prevention and public education, to try and reduce the
burden of lung disease on society, and to use the ERS congress as the driving force behind the campaign.
This year, in 2014, the theme for Healthy Lungs for Life will be Clean Air. The air that we breathe each day has a massive impact on our lungs, the first internal organ it comes in contact with.

 

Lung Health in Europe in 21 Century: COPD

The European Lung Foundation and the European Respiratory Society have launched a short version of the European Lung White Book, centred around a series of infographics focusing on the key statistics on epidemiology and burden of Respiratory diseases in Europe.

The book, which was launched in Brussels this week, is aimed at policymakers, the public and patients who are looking to quickly and updated access the information on the Respiratory health in Europe.

Today we are happy to present you infographics on COPD from European Lung White Book. 

New 2013 Guidelines on Pulmonary Rehabilitation

A fresh guideline on pulmonary rehabilitation has been published this week, helping professionals, patients and the public understand what to expect from a pulmonary rehabilitation programme.

The new guideline, produced by the European Respiratory Society and the American Thoracic Society, supports the use of pulmonary rehabilitation as an essential part of the care offered to people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other long-term lung conditions.

Link to 2013 Guidelines on Pulmonary Rehabilitation

For the first time, the European Lung Foundation has produced a patient version of this official ERS guideline. 

Link to this important Respiratory document

This document can be freely downloaded to help increase public understanding and awareness of pulmonary rehabilitation and what to expect from the programme.

Survey on Smoking cessation in COPD and other pulmonary disorders

Respiratory Decade supports Initiative on Smoking cessation in COPD and other pulmonary disorders in smokers of European Respiratory Society (ERS) and European Lung Foundation (ELF).

 
An ERS Task Force is currently working to produce a consensus statement on Smoking cessation in COPD and other pulmonary disorders in smokers who are not willing to quit. To inform the work of this group, the ERS and ELF have developed an online survey asking smokers with lung conditions across Europe about their experiences of having a lung condition, smoking, and trying to quit.

There is little substantive research for this group and the success of this survey could give insight into the attitudes of smokers with lung conditions and help develop patient-focused approaches with better long-term outcomes. 

The information and survey are available in 10 European languages (English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Polish, Russian, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch).