3 June, 2025
The European Respiratory Society (ERS) was invited to the European Parliament’s SANT (public health) Committee ‘exchange of views’ on the topic of lung health and COPD, which took place on 3 June.
ERS’s contribution was to offer science-backed data and expert knowledge on this area to support Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) as they work on issues/policy related to this topic.
‘Exchange of views’ are a regular occurrence at the European Parliament, however, the focus on lung health and COPD and an invitation to ERS as an expert voice are both a first.
As a leader in the field of respiratory health, ERS is both well placed and privileged to contribute to this important activity, which marks yet another positive step towards prioritising lung health issues; the recent adoption of the lung health resolution at the 78th World Health Assembly, and the upcoming launch of the first ever report of chronic respiratory disease, a joint World Health Organization (WHO) and ERS report, are other examples of this.
Professor Didier Cataldo, spokesperson for ERS at the event noted: “We are seeing a positive trend and a focus on lung health issues which have historically not been addressed and which are often underdiagnosed – this includes non-communicable diseases and chronic respiratory diseases such as COPD. When you look at the data we have, it is past time to make this a priority.”
The information presented at the exchange of view included the latest data on the global burden of respiratory disease which states that 468 million people are living with chronic respiratory conditions globally, the societal cost of nine respiratory diseases in the WHO European region in 2021 alone is €803.5 million, and 15.7 million people globally die prematurely as a result of respiratory disease.
Visit the International Respiratory Coalition’s Lung Facts resource for the latest respiratory disease data.