Chronic respiratory diseases

Chronic respiratory diseases, which affect the airways and lungs, impede the lives of over 454 million people worldwide.

Context

Often labelled the ‘forgotten’ non-communicable disease (NCD), chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) are the third leading cause of global mortality, resulting in over four million deaths every year.

Some of the most common CRDs are chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, occupational lung diseases and pulmonary hypertension. Symptoms from these conditions can affect people daily and include wheezing, breathlessness, cough and mucus production.

Despite rising prevalence, CRDs have garnered limited public attention and research funding, especially in comparison with other conditions such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes.

Addressing CRDs should be a strategic opportunity for all countries, regardless of income level. Doing so will be instrumental for countries to achieve their commitments as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to reduce mortality from NCDs by 30% by 2030, a goal that most countries are not on track to achieve.

Given commonalities across different CRDs, taking an integrated approach to lung health would enable governments to use resources efficiently. Progress is needed to improve preventive approaches, proactively identify people at risk of CRDs, tackle underdiagnosis, improve timely access to effective care, address underlying inequities and drive system changes that may ultimately tackle all CRDs simultaneously.

What we’ve achieved

HPP convened a multidisciplinary group of international experts to support the development of a policy report, published in September 2024 in English and Spanish.

The report includes recommendations for governments and policymakers to take action on CRDs in four key areas: improving population health through primary prevention; facilitating proactive detection and early diagnosis; improving access to, and quality of, care; and building strategic and supportive policies for tackling CRDs. If implemented, these recommendations would address major barriers to care and ultimately improve the lives of people living with CRDs.

In addition to the policy report, HPP has developed two infographics that highlight key barriers to, and opportunities for, tackling the impact of CRDs. The global infographic, published in November 2023, raises awareness of the need for policy action on CRDs around the world. Our Asia infographic focuses on the challenges of CRDs in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam, and the actions that must take place to improve care for people living with CRDs in these countries.

This is part of a larger programme of work on respiratory diseases, which includes severe asthma and COPD.

Key partners and stakeholders

This project is supported by a multidisciplinary Steering Committee:

Professor Chunxue Bai, Emeritus Professor, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, China, and Chair, International Association for Metaverse in Medicine
Professor Job Van Boven, Associate Professor of Respiratory Health Economics and Drug Outcomes Research, Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands
Professor Joanna Chorostowska-Wynimko, President Elect, European Respiratory Society, and Head, Department of Genetics and Clinical Immunology, National Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Poland
Zachary Desson, Principal Scientific and Policy Advisor, European Health Management Association, Belgium
Professor Christine Jenkins, Professor of Respiratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, and The George Institute for Global Health, Australia
Dr Mary Johnson, Principal Research Scientist, Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, US
Professor Ee Ming Khoo, Past President, International Primary Care Respiratory Group, and Honorary Professor, Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia
Tonya Winders, President and CEO, Global Allergy & Airways Patient Platform, Austria (based in US)
Dr Dawei Yang, Attending Physician and Associate Researcher, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, China
Professor Arzu Yorgancioglu, Chair, Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) Board of Directors, and Department of Pulmonology, Celal Bayar University Medical Faculty, Turkey

Project funding

These projects were initiated and funded by AstraZeneca, which commissioned The Health Policy Partnership to develop the policy narrative and infographics with insights from expert Steering Committees. All experts were made aware of the funding for these projects.

Chronic respiratory diseases