Who we are and what we do

ERS is an international membership organisation that brings together physicians, healthcare professionals, scientists and other experts working in respiratory medicine. We are one of the leading medical organisations in the respiratory field, with a growing membership representing over 160 countries. Our mission is to promote lung health in order to alleviate suffering from disease and drive standards for respiratory medicine globally.

Science, education and advocacy are at the core of everything we do; we promote scientific research, provide access to high-quality educational resources and play a key role in raising awareness of lung disease to politicians. We work closely with the European Lung Foundation to extend that reach to the public and patients.

One in eight people in Europe die due to lung diseases – this means one person every minute. It includes well-known diseases like asthma and lung cancer and other less known like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which is now the third most common cause of death.

The European Respiratory Society (ERS) was founded in 1990 as a result of a merger between two existing societies: the Societas Europaea Physiologiae Clinicae Respoiratoriae (SEPCR, founded 1966) and the European Society of Pneumology (SEP, founded 1981).

The merger took place at SEPCR and SEP joint meeting in London. A major benefit of this merger was a unification of what had previously been two distinct groups – the basic scientists of SEPCR and the clinicians of SEP. The interconnectivity of these two groups continues to be a driving force behind the success of our society today.

ERS also brought forward the assembly structure of SEPCR and continued to develop it. Our assemblies, and the groups within them, are the backbone of ERS. They underpin all scientific and educational activities and drive us forward in our mission.