World COPD Day

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World COPD Day: Calling for investment in research to reduce the burden

28.11.13

November 28 marks World COPD Day, which aims to raise awareness around Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. A long-term disease of the lungs and airways, COPD can be managed if caught before it becomes too severe, yet there is currently no cure. Patients who suffer from COPD deal with symptoms such as shortness of breath, wheezing, and a tight chest. The illness is both treatable and preventable; most people who suffer from COPD are current smokers or used to smoke a lot. There are other factors that may contribute to the disease’s development, such as air pollution and chemical fumes – but smoking is believed to be by far the biggest factor. COPD is a progressive disease, with the toll it takes on a patient worsening over time, also leading to leg fatigue and reduced physical activity.

The disease is a huge burden for patients who have to live with these symptoms on a daily basis – but its impacts go far beyond that. COPD has a big influence on healthcare systems and society at large. In the United States in 2005, the direct costs of COPD were $21.8 billion and the indirect costs totaled $17 billion. In the European Union, the direct costs of COPD are estimated at 38.6 billion Euros. The burden this places on healthcare systems is huge – another reason we need to work towards solutions against COPD, encouraging both preventative measures and advancing research that can improve conditions for patients living with COPD.

This is one of the aims of PROactive, an IMI project aiming to develop new tools that will enable patients, doctors and clinical researchers to better assess the state of COPD. IMI, the Innovative Medicines Initiative, is a public-private partnership between EFPIA and the EU that champions open innovation and collaborative research, providing funding for a variety of projects addressing key areas of unmet need – from COPD to Alzheimer’s. The PROactive project has taken its collaborative efforts further by joining forces with the UK’s COPDMAP initiative – another public-private partnership working to further knowledge about COPD. Under the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the two, COPDMAP will become the first external party to use PROactive’s “Patient Report Outcome (PRO)” Tools.

In support of raising awareness around such projects, today a conference will take place in Brussels “What role for diseases and patients in shaping Horizon 2020? A COPD case study of patient involvement”. The objective of the conference is to discuss standards of care for COPD, as well as the newly adopted EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation – Horizon 2020. Horizon 2020 funds a number of innovative initiatives, including IMI.

Supporting projects like this benefits not only patients, but society as a whole. The stark numbers surrounding COPD – which is related to the deaths of nearly three million people globally every year – make this clear. The World Health Organization report on Priority Medicines – notes the challenges of developing new treatments to address worsening COPD. Investing in this research now can help us all in the future, by reducing the burden on patients, health systems, and society as a whole.

Richard Bergström was appointed as Director General of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and...