Are you attending the most important European Respiratory Society meeting?

Welcome from ERS President Jørgen Vestbo 

It is a true pleasure to be hosting the 26th International Congress of the European Respiratory Society in London.

The ERS International Congress has grown to be the largest meeting in the world in the respiratory field and this year's event will not disappoint. The Chairs of the Scientific and Educational Councils, together with all ERS Officers, are busy preparing a programme that will challenge our thinking minds, encourage debate and offer new insights across the spectrum of respiratory health and disease.The ERS International Congress has grown to be the largest meeting in the world in the respiratory field and this year's true pleasure to be hosting the 26th International Congress of the European Respiratory Society in London.

We extend a special welcome to our existing and new members as we have seen our numbers rise this year with more partnerships developed with national and international societies. The Congress is the pinnacle of the year for our growing respiratory community, and others who attend our Congress, and represents a key opportunity to share knowledge across borders and professional disciplines as we work towards a common goal of improving respiratory health.

This year will see the most interactive Congress experience available. Alongside our official Congress app, we will partner with SpotMe, a highly effective networking app available for free for all delegates. The app will allow you to navigate the programme, network, access session materials, use the interactive floor plan and exhibition map, interact with faculty, access CME points, collect Congress materials, watch missed sessions and much more. More information on this will be shared on the website and in our newsletter.

Also, the venue is spectacular. It offers lots of space, also for sitting down with colleagues and collaborators for networking – one of the main attractions for coming to an ERS International Congress.

I look forward to welcoming you to London for the most exciting event in the respiratory calendar.

Professor Jørgen Vestbo

Final programme of the 23rd Congress of The Romanian Society of Pulmonology: 8-11 Octomber

Dear friends, see you next week in Sibiu, Romania for the Congress of The Romanian Society of Pneumology, between 8 and 11 October. 

Find the scientific programme in detail at http://www.congrespneumo2014.ro/pages/program/
or just click!!!

Clean Air and Lung Health - Healthy Lungs for Life

Mortality attributable to ambient / household air pollution is numbered in the millions and is affecting people in both developing and developed countries.  This documentary tackles the issues faced by both the public and patients regarding the fight for clean air — air free from particulate matter, pathogens, smoke and dangerous gases. While there has been significate progress in the last decades in terms of air quality, we still have a lot of work to do in order to reach the levels suggested in WHO guidelines. 

Using statistics from the ERS White book and resources from ERS/ELF Healthy Lungs for Life campaign, ERS experts outline what can  be done by all stake holders in respiratory medicine, from healthcare professionals to policy makers, to help make the changes we need to #BreatheCleanAir.

See you in Munich!

Dear Respiratory Friends See you in Munich this and next week at European Respiratory Society Congress 2014!

10 Reasons to attend European Respiratory Society Congress, Munich 2014

Dear friends,

as you may already know the European Respiratory Society Annual Congress will take place in Munich, 6-10 September 2014.

You have not decided yet whether you’ll be there or not?

So we have outlined 10 reasons why one would take part in the event this year.

1. Scientific and Educational Programmes

Tight schedule of programmes may attract your attention due to a high variety of postgraduate courses on different respiratory themes: Interventional Pulmonology, Update of phenotypes of asthma and COPD, evidence-based approach to advanced respiratory care, Treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea, etc. Informative and interactive lectures may be very useful for your research, while participating in workshops would allow you to follow the discussion and share your opinion, which is not the least important argument. „Meet the Professor” seminars are elaborated for those interested in the exchange of ideas with leading experts in the respiratory field.

2. Personal Presentation

That would be too simple to attend the Congress and not to express yourself. That is why the next reason is sharing your work, be it a poster, or e-presentation. Probably not everyday we have an opportunity to show the results of our work and to get a feedback at the international Congress of the same level.

3. Healthy Lungs for Life

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".

4. Meet colleagues and friends

Being a part of community united for several days by a common aim – speak about respiratory diseases is also a great chance to meet colleagues and friends. Every year thousands of people attend the congress, and for sure one can get acquainted with interesting people or merely see old friends.

5. Press conferences

Press conferences is another point that may draw your attention if you are a mass media representative. Attending the conferences, gathering information, listening leaders of opinion in respiratory care and asking questions may be very useful for those who want to promote lung health worldwide.

6. HERMES examination

You can take HERMES examination in adult or paediatric respiratory medicine which was created for trainees and specialists interested in knowledge assessment according to European standards. Successful completion of the examination leads to European Diploma in Respiratory Medicine and permits be part of the HERMES Diplomates Club.

7. Respiratory Championship session  

Come and join our 4 teams representing Germany, Greece, Malta and Poland who are competing to be the Champions of Respiratory Medicine. 

Sunday, 7 September 13:15 - 14:15 (Room 4 - ICM)

The quiz master will present illustrated cases (including x-rays, lung function and laboratory results, pathological slides, etc.) that focus on various fields of respiratory medicine.

The session provides a state of the art review and updates on recent advances in major areas of respiratory medicine – an ideal preparation for those preparing the HERMES examination, or for anyone interested in challenging their knowledge and expertise.

8. Exhibition

There is an activity one would like to accomplish between attending the courses and presenting the posters. Namely visiting the exhibition of world-known pharmaceutical and engineering companies, medical bookshops and technological corporations that generously offer information, materials, equipment and create a special atmosphere of international collaboration.

9. Patient Forum ELF/ERS session:'Improving CPAP and NIV - a user perspective'

The session will explore how professionals can improve their practice and healthcare outcomes by listening to the patients’ experience. Too frequently, professional prescribing CPAP and NIV are unaware of the realities of using CPAP and practical issues experienced by patients. Many of these difficulties can be addressed through open professional-patient dialogue, and adjustments to the apparatus.

10. Munich

And finally who would stay at ERS Congress round the clock? Certainly you would like to see the Munich in all its’ autumn beauty. Therefore there would defenitely be time for city tours, excursions through historic centre with all its sights.

 by Mila Corlateanu

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.

AIRWAYS-ICPs - Integrated care pathways for airway diseases: new perspective

Dear Respiratory friends please read about new perspectives with AIRWAYS-ICPs project!

Chronic respiratory diseases are major non-communicable diseases. Asthma and allergic diseases occur throughout the life cycle and can begin during pregnancy and childhood. In Europe, they affect 30 million children and adults under 45 years of age. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has an estimated annual death rate of over 4 million people globally. Among the European Union (EU) member states, asthma accounted for an average of 53 hospital admissions per 100 000 population in 2009, and the average COPD-related admission rate was 184. The annual direct and indirect costs in the 28 EU countries due to COPD or asthma are estimated at €48 billion and €34 billion, respectively. Chronic respiratory diseases affect active and healthy ageing. Asthma in children or adults is a common risk factor for COPD in adults. 

The aim of AIRWAYS-ICPs is to improve healthy life years and to reduce burden (emergency visits, avoidable hospitalisations, disability and costs) while improving quality of life worldwide, and, in the longer term, to reduce disease incidence by new and innovative prevention strategies.

AIRWAYS-ICPs has a clear strategic relevance with regard to the EU Health Strategy as it will bring added value to the existing public health knowledge:

• To propose a common framework for chronic respiratory disease (and for comorbidities) ICPs for the entire EU which can then be expanded to other regions (e.g. the Commonwealth of Independent States) and which will allow comparability and trans-national initiatives.
• To help risk stratification in chronic respiratory disease patients, using a common strategy.
• To develop cost-effective policies, in particular strengthening those on smoking and environment exposure.
• To have a significant implication on the health of citizens in the short term (reduction of morbidity, improvement of education in children and of work in adults) and in the long term (healthy ageing).
• To propose a common simulation tool for the entire EU in order to assist physicians in the segmentation of patients and in the choice of pathways. 
  
  
  
  More information was published last week in European Respiratory Journal: 
  J. Bousquet et al.
  Integrated care pathways for airway diseases (AIRWAYS-ICPs) Eur Respir J 2014 44:304-323; published ahead of print 2014, doi:10.1183/09031936.00014614
  http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/2/304.extract?etoc

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.