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The world health organization WHO Europe is working together with the European Respiratory Society on a joint report on Chronic Respiratory Disease, focusing on health equity. On behalf of WHO Europe, Galea Gauden gave some highligts from the coming report.

What is health equity?

Health equity is a term referring to fair and just opportunity to maintain optimal health, regardless of race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, preferred language, or other factors. For the respiratory field, this not only includes equal opportunities to clean air, and good conditions for healthy lung development, but also access to treatment and healthcare.

Disproportionate burden, as well as risk

Several factors contributing to poor lung health depend on geography and socioeconomic status. Within the European region, disparities are influencing prevalence of respiratory disease and their risk factors, disproportionately affecting disadvantaged populations in most societies. Both in terms of burden of disease as well as higher exposure to risk.

Smoking

Comparing data from 1990 with 2021, smoking remains the number one risk factor contributing to CRD deaths in the European region1. Having been front runners in tobacco control for many decades, it now looks as if Europe, by 2030, will become the region with the world’s highest smoking rates, 23% of population. The risk of developing disease from smoking is higher in women, so a concerning trend is the increased tobacco use in women – Europe already has the highest share of female smokers.

Risks attributed to deaths in Chronic Respiratory diseases (data from Global burden of disease)

Global burden of disease 2021

To explore risk factors and attribution to risks and impact on years with disability, please visit

https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/

Risk exposure and vulnerability

Although smoking plays a leading role among risk factors, air pollution, occupational and chemical hazards and other risk factors contribute significantly to impaired respiratory health for both genders. These are harmful for all people, but people with lower socioeconomic status tend to have higher risk exposure. There is also a difference in vulnerability among different groups, as children, pregnant women, elderly, people with chronical diseases are more likely to experience adverse health effects than others.

Joined up governance, a winning strategy

Although this development seems hopeless, Finland was mentioned as a positive example of how a multi-stakeholder approach can make a difference. Thanks to a long-term, systematic lung health policy smoking incidence has been kept down. The reward? A reduction of burden of a respiratory disease for both patients and society, by the looks of real-world data.2

What can we do? The audience was encouraged to make use of the upcoming report to put pressure on policy makers to make them understand the urgency of addressing risk factors leading to respiratory disease. Both in short and long term, we also need to address how to manage chronic respiratory diseases in conflict, in time of humanitarian emergency, climate change and figure out: how to work for a Europe that is resilient against non-communicable disease, carbon neutral, just, safe and at peace.

Erika Petersson
Medical Digital Content Manager, Chiesi



References

  1. Global burden of disease – visualization tool, https://vizhub.healthdata.org/gbd-compare/
  2. Haahtela T, Valovirta E, Bousquet J, Mäkelä M; Allergy Programme Steering Group. The Finnish Allergy Programme 2008-2018 works. Eur Respir J. 2017 Jun 22;49(6):1700470. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00470-2017. PMID: 28642312.

ID 9972-12.09.2024