International Lung Disease conference welcomed to Birmingham by Minister of State for Health

The Minister of State for Health, Simon Burns MPs, is welcoming the major international lung disease conference COPD8 to Birmingham on June 20^th as clinicians, researchers and politicians turn their minds to the growing issue of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)  for healthcare systems and wider society.

COPD8 runs from 20-22 June 2012 at the ICC, Birmingham England and is the eighth in a series of biennial conferences focussing entirely on this important lung condition. The conference covers all aspects of COPD from basic science through to clinical practice and what people living with the condition need and want.

This year’s programme brings together all of the foremost academic researchers and clinical experts in the field, including contributions from: Professor Christine Jenkins from University of Sydney, Australia, Professor Marc Decramer from University of Leuven, Belgium, Professor Peter Calverley from University Hospital Aintree, Liverpool, and Professor's Sonia Buist, Steve Rennard and Bart Celli from the Universities of Oregon, Omaha and Boston respectively, in the US.

The patient voice is also featured strongly throughout with contributions from Dame Helena Shovelton from the British Lung Foundation and John Walsh, President of the COPD Foundation in the United States, who has COPD himself.

Caring for people with COPD has a significant impact for modern health services – and is currently estimated to cost the NHS £1billion a year (and a total of 8 billion euros a year across the European Union).

The World Health Organisation says that COPD is the 4^th biggest killer worldwide (equivalent to worldwide deaths from HIV/AIDS) and that deaths from COPD will increase by more than 30 per cent in the next 10 years without more interventions to change the burden of disease and to minimise risk and progression.

Minister of State for Health Simon Burns MP said:

“Non-communicable diseases like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) are a big challenge for modern healthcare systems. I’m very pleased to see the world’s leading clinicians and researchers meeting in England just as the NHS is starting to focus on this condition.

“Over the last two years we’ve made significant progress on battling COPD. We have given healthcare professionals the freedom and resources to focus on outcomes, and have published guidance to help all of the NHS reach the level of the best.

“We’re aiming to give people with COPD an early and accurate diagnosis, so they can learn to manage their disease, keeping them out of hospital for longer and improving their quality of life.”

In addition to the conference itself, teams from University Hospital Birmingham will be offering free lung tests for members of the public as part of a month of events centred around World Spirometry Day – a global initiative to improve early diagnosis of lung disease through lung testing.