Raising the Bar for Better Standards of Care for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): European Policy Recommendations PDF Free Download
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Raising
the Bar for Beer
Standards
of Care for Chronic
Obstrucve
Pulmonary Disease
(COPD)
European Policy
Recommendaons
Imagine coughing day aer day. For years, you convince
yourself that it is normal—a consequence of geng older,
or perhaps it is just the cigarees or the polluon in the
air. But beneath the surface, your lungs are silently
deteriorang, and the air does not flow as easily as it used
to. Then, one day, you receive a diagnosis you have never
heard of: chronic obstrucve pulmonary disease (COPD).
And, by the me you learn the name, it is oen too late.
COPD is a progressive, life-altering condion with no cure,
and it is the third leading cause of death globally. Yet, it
can be prevented if only caught in me.
Unlike other major chronic diseases (e.g., heart diseases and diabetes) and cancer, COPD remains shockingly
underrecognized by both the public and policymakers. A disease that steals the breath of 36 million Europeans and
accounts for 6% of total healthcare spending in the European Union falls off the decision-makers’ radar.
Lung health is at a crical juncture, with COPD represenng one of the most significant challenges in public health.
Despite this fact, there has been no significant acon over the past decade to promote COPD prevenon or
opmise COPD management and treatment pathways. This report confirms the current situaon: the number of
individuals living with COPD in Europe has increased, there has been minimal progress in early diagnosis, care, and
prevenon, and the availability of best pracces remains limited and not widely accessible to paents.
The EFA report on Raising the Bar for Beer Standards of Care for Chronic Obstrucve Pulmonary Disease not only
depicts the current situaon for COPD paents, but it is also a call to acon. To halt COPD, policies must focus on
prevenon of disease and on prevenon of exacerbaons and deaths. It is high me to raise the bar for COPD
standards of care by priorising early detecon, removing the sgma associated with seeking help, and establishing
equitable, high-quality care for everyone affected. Moreover, it is necessary to invest in research to idenfy
biomarkers for very early diagnosis and a cure for COPD.
EFA and our community of members—the paents’ organisaons—are ready to stand with policymakers,
healthcare providers, and all stakeholders to break the cycle of neglect. We refuse to let smoking-related sgma or
lack of awareness hinder early diagnoses and improved care. Together, we can ensure that COPD is no longer a
forgoen condion but a central indicator to measure health equity and ulmately improve the sustainability of
healthcare systems across Europe.
This report is a powerful tool in the journey to halt COPD. It deep dives into the status of prevenon, awareness,
and access to care, as well as access to digital health soluons in Europe. It provides a comprehensive and synopc
view of the management of COPD in 19 different countries, thereby facilitang the idenficaon of trends and gaps,
as well as naonal best pracces and soluons to improve the paents’ quality of care.
This report would not have been possible without the knowledge and parcipaon of the EFA COPD Working
Group, the #EFACommunity of members, and the reless volunteer paents and representaves who, despite daily
COPD struggles, have made this project real. Our gratude also goes to our partners and corporate sustainable
funding partners, whose commitment has laid the foundaon for this essenal advocacy work. Let us move forward
together to ensure that COPD paents in Europe receive the voice, aenon, and care they deserve to
#KeepBreathing.
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Chronic obstrucve pulmonary disease (COPD) is a preventable chronic condion that causes persistent, progressive
airflow obstrucon [1]. If le untreated or poorly managed, COPD can severely limit daily acvies and lead to
hospitalisaons and death.
COPD is the third leading cause of mortality and is responsible for 6% of all deaths globally [2, 3]. In Europe, there
are more than 36 million paents living with COPD [4]. Despite its significant impact on healthcare, public policies
oen overlook COPD and its overwhelming burden [5, 6].
The aim of the EFA report on Raising the Bar for Beer Standards of Care for Chronic Obstrucve Pulmonary Disease
is to provide a comprehensive picture of the access to opmal care for COPD paents in 19 European countries
(Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands,
Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom). The topics covered by the
report are: epidemiology, early diagnosis, primary and secondary prevenon, access to care, societal and personal
costs of COPD, and research. The findings prompted EFA to develop policy recommendaons to implement minimum
standards of care for COPD paents in Europe.
EFA community of member organisaons encourage policymakers to place COPD at the
forefront of health agendas to effecvely address it as a crical healthcare and sustainability
issue.
The burden of COPD on European countries
COPD places a considerable burden on healthcare systems, with annual direct costs of €38.6 billion, corresponding
to 56% of the total cost of treang respiratory diseases and 6% of total healthcare spending in the European Union
[7]. Lung health programmes, including public health iniaves for early COPD detecon and prevenon, as well as
comprehensive COPD care management plans, effecvely reduce the burden of COPD by increasing early diagnosis
and reducing mortality [8].
The direct and indirect costs associated with COPD have steadily increased over me, mainly driven by poor
pharmacological and non-pharmacological management of the condion. Hospitalisaon costs range from €1,316
for mild COPD to €8,472 for severe COPD [9].
The EFA report found that only a few
countries implement effecve strategies
for reducing COPD costs, and oen they
exist only in certain regions within a
country.
+0.7%
Data from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease study.
Percentage per 100,000
2011 2021
Prevalence of COPD in Europe for 2011 and 2021
Indirect costs, largely due to decreased producvity
and early rerement of paents, outweigh direct
costs by over 60%. In addion, hidden costs
related to informal caregiving and out-of-pocket
expenses further impact paents and families,
parcularly those with lower incomes.
4
Liming exposure to risk factors, primarily cigaree smoking and environmental pollutants, can largely prevent
COPD. Essenal strategies include increasing access to smoking cessaon programmes, incenvising primary care
physicians to promote quing, and implemenng comprehensive smoke-free policies, also considering the rising
threat of vaping among youth. Moreover, countries should adopt measures to improve outdoor and indoor air
quality and migate the impact of climate change through legislaon that promotes healthier indoor environments,
polluon reducon measures and measures to protect at-risk individuals from the effects of climate change.
Disease awareness and Prevenon
Early diagnosis of COPD is essenal for halng disease progression and improving long-term outcomes. Paents
diagnosed with mild COPD may not experience a reducon in life expectancy compared to healthy people [10]. On
the contrary, 75% of paents who were inially misdiagnosed went on to develop moderate to severe COPD,
thereby increasing the risk of death [10, 11].
Early detecon and diagnosis
Unfortunately, COPD oen remains undiagnosed due to
a lack of awareness and limited access to simple
diagnosc tests like spirometry.
Naonal and regional policies should therefore
establish proacve early detecon policies
that include public awareness campaigns and
spirometry screening for people at risk.
Furthermore, research into the pathophysiology and
biomarkers of COPD could further facilitate early
diagnosis, especially for nonsmokers [12]. EU funding
should priorise research on the development trajectories
of chronic lung disease and for the idenficaon of new
biomarkers for very early diagnosis.
Along with early diagnosis, access to opmal care for COPD paents is the second pillar to prevent the progression
of COPD. Regional and local differences hinder access to care, with paents living in rural and less populated areas
facing the highest inequality in receiving adequate healthcare compared to those in more urban or populated
areas.
Access to COPD care: A fragmented picture
EFA’s report reveals profound health inequalies, as not all paents with COPD have guaranteed
access to healthcare, including personalised management plans for all COPD paents and
access to vaccinaon.
5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70-74
75-79
80-84
85-89
90-94
≥95
Total prevalent cases (millions)
Age group (years)
Women Men
Modified from Safiri et al. 2022. Generated from Global Burden of Disease data. Creave Commons CC BY license.
Maintaining an acve lifestyle is crucial for improving quality of life, yet many paents struggle with physical acvity
as a consequence of decreased lung funcon, this leads to worse disease control and negave effects on mental
and physical health [13]. Paents organisaons propose community-based programmes to promote acve living,
but they require more structured funding to support these iniaves.
Acve living and improving quality of life
The impact of Covid-19 on the care of COPD paents
Digital health soluons have the potenal to enhance access to care, treatment adherence, and empower COPD
paents to take an acve role in their own care. Paents, parcularly those of advanced age, are more comfortable
using familiar technologies, such as smartphones [14]. Moreover, factors like digital literacy connue to impact
access to telemedicine. Digital health iniaves should be designed to align with paents’ preferences and should
not replace in-person interacons with healthcare professionals [15].
Digital health soluons for paents with COPD
COPD paents are more vulnerable to developing severe respiratory infecons. Moreover, the restricons due to
the pandemics increased the feeling of isolaon and hindered access to follow-up visits. The main impact of the
pandemic on COPD care was the delay in diagnoses, aer the pandemic years, the number of newly registered
COPD paents decreased by 44%. Moreover, as a consequence of the increased demand for pulmonary rehabilitaon
for paents recovering from Covid-19 infecon, COPD paents experienced restricons in accessing such important
therapy.
Worldwide prevalence of COPD, by age and sex in 2019
COPD is the third cause of death wordwide
6
of the
of preventable
deaths
Europeans
have COPD
of the total
healthcare
spending
of the total cost
respiratory diseases
Direct costs
of
COPD
6%
Strengthening the capacity of naonal healthcare systems is crucial to effecvely address the recurring gaps in COPD
care. In order to do so, healthcare systems should enforce targeted prevenon measures, improve coordinaon, and
adopt a muldisciplinary approach to lung health.
1.The Burden of COPD on Health
Strengthening Naonal and European Efforts
to Address COPD
General recommendaon
At naonal level
Establish naonal lung health plans: Develop comprehensive naonal lung health plans integrated in public
health policies that encompass both early and accurate COPD diagnosis and opmal care management. These
plans should priorise prevenon of COPD and should aim to enhance the overall quality of care.
Integrate COPD educaon across medical curricula: Promote training programmes on COPD for healthcare
professionals, including for physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, and pharmacists. This training should emphasise
early diagnosis, the administraon of diagnosc procedures like spirometry tesng, and effecve management of
COPD and its comorbidies.
At European level
Promote COPD data collecon and monitoring: Adopt systemac data collecon and monitoring across Europe
to beer understand the impact of COPD on healthcare systems and its societal burden.
7
The Burden of COPD on Health
Strengthening Naonal and European Efforts to
Address COPD
The Cost of COPD in Europe
Strengthening Naonal and European Approa-
ches to COPD Care
Disease Awareness and Prevenon
Invesng in Lung Health through Public Health
Iniaves
Early Detecon and Diagnosis
Reducing COPD Progression through Early
Detecon and Awareness
Access to COPD Care
Guaranteeing Health Equity for COPD Care
Acve Living and Improving Quality of Life
Creang a Supporve Environment for COPD
Paents
Digital Health Soluons for Paents with
COPD
Developing Paent-Centred Digital Health
Strategies for COPD
The Impact of Covid-19
Ensuring Connuum of Care for COPD during
Health Crises
At naonal level
Break down silos for COPD muldisciplinary care: Muldisciplinary COPD care in the primary care level
improves the early detecon of COPD, slows down the disease progression, enables beer management of
comorbidies, thereby reducing associated direct costs.
2.The Cost of COPD in Europe
Strengthening Naonal and European
Approaches to COPD Care
General recommendaon
Establishing lung health plans is essenal to anchor COPD management within primary care sengs, thereby
reducing costs for both healthcare systems and paents.
Design strategies to reduce COPD indirect costs: Develop naonal strategies to tackle the indirect costs of COPD,
such as sick leave, early rerement, and reduced producvity.
Pilot cost-effecve prescripon and reimbursement schemes: Introduce pilot schemes for the prescripon and
reimbursement of early COPD intervenons and scale up their cost-effecveness.
Opmise the distribuon of healthcare force to meet the needs of COPD paents: Improve the organisaon of
healthcare workers to support COPD care by equipping primary care services with trained respiratory (community)
nurses, and lung funcon tesng devices to improve early detecon.
Priorise lung health and COPD in EU financial instruments: Priorise acon on lung health and specifically on
COPD through the EU4Health and Horizon programmes genuinely addressing chronic diseases.
Develop policies that support inclusion of COPD paents in the workforce: Develop and promote supporve
policies that keep and integrate COPD paents in the workforce to promote acve living, thereby reducing
preventable absenteeism and indirect costs associated with the disease.
Develop comprehensive lung health training programmes for healthcare professionals: Earmark training
programmes under the European Social Fund (ESF) aimed at incenvising healthcare professionals (including
primary care providers, nurses, and physiotherapists) and medical specialists involved in chronic respiratory
diseases to promote early diagnosis and opmal management of care for COPD.
Strengthen “Health at Work” Policies: Integrate lung health into policies addressing occupaonal exposure to
chemicals, in order to prevent respiratory diseases and to reduce healthcare costs associated to decreased lung
funcon due to occupaonal exposure.
Enhance technical support for COPD care through WHO/Europe: Guide WHO Europe Member States with roadmaps,
technical support, and success indicators to strengthen healthcare systems’ capacity to monitor and deliver COPD
care.
At European level
8
Adopt and enforce public health laws to protect lung health: Implement and enforce public health legislaon to
protect lung health, including measures to reduce smoking and vaping, limit exposure to second-hand smoke for
vulnerable groups and groups-at-risk, and offer free-of-charge support for smokers who wish to quit, including
accessible smoking cessaon programmes.
Reduce outdoor air polluon and provide public informaon: Implement ambious measures to tackle outdoor
air polluon and improve access to public informaon on air quality, with advice specifically addressed at
vulnerable groups such as chronic respiratory disease paents, especially in areas impacted by exceeding air
polluon levels, such as big size cies, industrial and mining areas and regions dependent on the burning of fossil
and solid fuels.
Improve indoor air quality: Adopt a comprehensive framework to reduce indoor air polluon, including naonal
and local schemes for health-based renovaons (i.e., incenvising renovaons in buildings where COPD paents
live), venlaon improvements and building maintenance.
Priorise measures to reduce the impact of climate change related risks on COPD paents:Priorise acons
towards vulnerable populaons, like people living with COPD and reduced lung funcon. Such acons should
include early warning systems, healthcare systems and informaon plans to address risks such as wildfires and
floods, expand green areas in urban environments to combat heatwaves, and reinforce civil protecon mechanisms.
At European level
Strive for a “Tobacco-Free Generaon” by 2040: Escalate efforts to achieve a tobacco-free generaon before 2040
through addional restricons on the commercialisaon and use of smoking and vaping products, and by expanding
the enforcement of smoke-free environments to all indoor and public spaces, and private spaces where children
are exposed.
Align EU air quality legislaon with WHO standards: Align European air quality legislaon with WHO ambient air
pollutant standards and ensure effecve implementaon at the naonal level.
Propose harmonised indoor air quality measures:Harness scienfic evidence to propose basic harmonised measures to
address indoor air quality standards and performance.
Act on the WHO/Europe Budapest Declaraon Commitments on Environment and Health:Act on the commitment
made in order to address the environmental and climate crisis that affects lung health.
Set minimum standards for civil protecon services and promote research on the impact of climate hazards on lung
health: Propose minimum standards for civil protecon services and for informaon during climate
emergencies that affect air quality. Promote research on the impact of climate hazards on lung health, parcularly
on people with chronic respiratory diseases.
Disseminate informaon on COPD risk prevenon: Support the disseminaon of informaon on the prevenon
of risk factors for COPD, through public health measures aimed at increasing health literacy.
3.Disease Awareness and
Prevenon
Invesng in Lung Health through Public Health
Iniaves
General recommendaon
Since COPD is a preventable disease, invesng in lung health requires public health policies and acons aimed at
prevenng risk factors exposure and improving health literacy. Both angles, legislaon and educaon, are fundamental
to decrease the prevalence of COPD and improve healthcare outcomes.
At naonal level
9
Raise awareness of COPD symptoms and risk factors: Conduct public awareness iniaves to promote COPD
symptom recognion (i.e., dyspnoea, “shortness of breath”, chronic cough) while educang about risk-factors.
These iniaves should be carried out in collaboraon with civil society, parcularly paents and healthcare
professionals’ associaons.
Strengthen primary care for COPD diagnosis: Ensure that COPD diagnosis is widely accessible by strengthening
capacity of primary care as the frontline in managing COPD. This involves training and incenvising general
praconers to rounely perform spirometry tesng and enhancing the role of nurses in running lung health
check-ups.
Provide lung health checks for at-risk groups: Offer lung health checks for early detecon of COPD in people who
are symptomac or at higher risk. Targeted groups include current and former smokers, paents with related
comorbidies (i.e., asthma, Alpha-1, cardiovascular symptoms, osteoporosis) and those exposed to risk factors,
such as chemicals, gas, fumes, and urban polluon.
4.Early Detecon and Diagnosis
Reducing COPD Progression through
Early Detecon and Awareness
General recommendaon
Reducing the progression of COPD requires proacve measures, including early detecon through lung health
checks and targeted awareness acons.
At naonal level
Earmark EU funding for COPD research: Allocate EU funds to support research on the lung funcon trajectories
that may predict the development of chronic lung diseases, including the idenficaon of new biomarkers for
very early diagnosis, parcularly among non-smoking paents.
Promote studies on the cost-effecveness of early detecon: Support health economic studies on the
cost-effecveness of early COPD detecon across European regions and pilot screening programmes anchored in
primary care.
Expand digital networks for early COPD detecon: Invest in expanding and reinforcing digital networks to
support early COPD detecon. This includes harnessing the full potenal of EU-wide registries, medical devices,
machine learning technologies and the European Health Data Space.
Adopt a WHO Europe Lung Health Agenda: Advocate for the adopon of a comprehensive and mulstakeholder
WHO Europe Lung Health Agenda to improve COPD prevenon and care across the region.
At European level
10
Ensure access to mely COPD treatment: Guarantee that COPD paents receive the right treatment at the right
me. Ensure affordable access to the full porolio of COPD care intervenons, such as:
therapies for COPD,
widespread availability of oxygen,
smoking cessaon programmes,
immunizaon against respiratory viruses,
out-paent and community-based palliave care.
Set up naonal COPD programmes to improve standards of care:
At European level
Reinforce primary care for chronic condions: Connue the investment in reinforcing primary care sengs
across EU Member States, with specific requirements for high-burden chronic condions such as COPD and
ensure effecve integraon of the primary care within the broader healthcare system.
Establish EU Centres of Excellence for chronic respiratory diseases: Support the creaon of a network of EU
Centres of Excellence for Chronic Respiratory Diseases to beer connect medical specialies to achieve opmal
care, upgrade standards and paent pathways, and catalyse breakthrough intervenons, including pulmonary
rehabilitaon and telemonitoring.
Promote health literacy for chronic respiratory paents: Increase health literacy on the importance of accessing
vaccinaon and immunisaon against respiratory virus among people with chronic respiratory disease.
Set ambious COPD care goals for the WHO Europe region: Establish ambious pharmacological and
non-pharmacological target goals for COPD care in the WHO Europe Region.
Close gaps in access to COPD care: Address disparies in COPD care whether they stem from rural-urban or
disease-specific variaons. Harmonise access to COPD care in countries where healthcare services are a regional
competence.
At naonal level
5.Access to COPD Care
Guaranteeing Health Equity for COPD Care
General recommendaon
To guarantee health equity for COPD, it is essenal to scale up both the quality and availability of healthcare services,
and to address the increasing shortages in the healthcare workforce.
Ensure adherence to clinical guidelines for COPD, including frequent monitoring, correct follow-up and paent
centred approach based on health outcomes.
Establish a mandatory COPD management plan to be agreed between the paent and the physicians.
Centralise and ensure coherence in muldisciplinary COPD care, with specific focus on managing common
comorbidies, such as other airways diseases, depression, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis.
Make pulmonary rehabilitaon – both out-paent and virtual – integral to secondary prevenon of COPD,
ensuring that rehabilitaon treatment programmes are systemacally offered to all COPD paents following an
exacerbaon, regardless of their locaon.
Involve paent organisaons in the development of naonal COPD programmes to ensure that paent needs
and perspecves are represented effecvely.
11
6.Acve Living and Improving
Quality of Life
Creang a Supporve Environment for
COPD Paents
General recommendaon
A supporve environment is crucial to maximise the quality of life of people living with COPD and enhance their
parcipaon in decisions affecng their care.
Promote co-decision in personalised care and self-management plans: Incenvise the co-decision of personalised
and self-management plans that capture treatment, physical acvity plans, and lifestyle opons.
Adopt naonal social plans for employment and acve living: Adopt naonal social plans that promote
employment opportunies and acve living opons for people diagnosed with COPD, thereby enabling them to
maintain a beer quality of life.
Facilitate collaboraon with paent organisaons: Sustain a structured and permanent dialogue and
collaboraon with naonal and local paent organisaons in order to assess limitaons on COPD care and
prevenon and co-create soluons, such as community-based pulmonary rehabilitaon acvies.
Invest in paent organisaons to diversify care opons: Provide unrestricted public funding and support to
paent organisaons at naonal and local level to diversify care opons for paents. This could include coordinang
with the healthcare system to provide paent educaon, counselling, and community-based services to COPD
paents. Such measures will enable greater involvement of paents in their care.
Recognise informal caregivers for COPD paents: Include COPD in the list of condions that enable informal
caregivers to be recognised for their support. Recognise financial dependency allowance and family entlements
(e.g., carers leave), proporonate to the burden and needs of caregiving.
At naonal level
At European level
Idenfy best-pracces for acve living with COPD: Idenfy and share European best pracces for policies that
support acve living for COPD paents, such as reasonable accommodaons at work, adaptable disability schemes,
and employer incenves.
Support digital health educaon projects: Promote and support European-level digital health educaon projects
aimed at lung health among the ageing populaon. Such projects should focus on basic pulmonary rehabilitaon
techniques, correct breathing, and lung funcon maintenance.
12
Involve COPD paents in the design of digital technologies for health:Offer access to digital technologies
designed with and for the paents that are integrated in the healthcare system and provide training for healthcare
professionals, paents, and caregivers on how to use the technology.
Enable virtual muldisciplinary teams and decisions for COPD: Facilitate virtual muldisciplinary teams and
decision-making processes for COPD, allowing paents to easily connect their primary, secondary, and terary care
providers for opmal care decisions.
At European level
Support Real World Evidence studies on the onset of exacerbaons: Invest in and support real-world evidence
studies to beer understand the onset of COPD exacerbaons (at individual and populaon level) to improve
prevenon, early intervenon, and COPD management.
Adopt requirements for electronic product informaon to train on inhalaon techniques: Establish requirements
for electronic product informaon of combinaon products that include video opons on how to use the device
in order to improve inhalaon techniques for COPD.
Develop a mul-plaorm device for inhalaon training: Support the development of a mul-plaorm medical
device to simplify training on opmal inhalaon techniques for people with COPD, to ensure beer use,
concordance, and adherence of inhaled therapies.
Promote digital health literacy for COPD paents: Foster digital health literacy to increase paent access to
digital tools to support COPD management, thereby empowering paents to be acve parcipants in their health
status and care.
Integrate European Centre for Disease Prevenon and Control (ECDC) monitoring of respiratory viruses for
COPD prevenon: Incorporate the ECDC monitoring of respiratory viruses into COPD secondary prevenon
strategies to beer protect paents.
7.Digital Health Soluons for
Paents with COPD
Developing Paent-Centred Digital Health
Strategies for COPD
General recommendaon
To effecvely support people living with COPD it is essenal to enable and develop digital health and care strategies
that priorise paents' needs and on usability.
Provide digital health services to opmise COPD care: Offer access to digital health and care services that can
opmise paents’ in-person COPD care and self-management, such as telemonitoring, connected medicines,
tesng devices, and digital diaries.
At naonal level
13
8.The Impact of Covid-19
Ensuring Connuum of Care for COPD during
Health Crises
General recommendaon
To enable the connuity of care for people with COPD during health crises, it is essenal to address specific
vulnerabilies and establish robust preparedness measures to safeguard lung health and priorise people with
exisng chronic respiratory condions.
Assess and address vulnerability during health crises: Idenfy and address the vulnerabilies and degree of
dependency of COPD paents during public health emergencies, ensuring they receive uninterrupted care and
support, parcularly when healthcare resources are strained, including medicines and workforce shortages.
At naonal level
Strengthen EU preparedness for respiratory infecons: Enhance EU level preparedness to deal with respiratory
infecons and with the usual virus season, ensuring that healthcare systems are equipped to support COPD
paents effecvely.
Address medicine shortages to ensure availability: Pay special aenon to potenal shortages of essenal
medicines for COPD ensuring mely measures to maintain their availability, especially during periods of increased
healthcare demand.
Provide clear and science-based informaon on risks: Deliver clear, transparent, and science-based informaon
on the risks of people with chronic respiratory condions against a given pathogen, thereby enabling paents to
make informed decisions regarding their health.
At European level
14
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References
November 2024
© EFA, European Federaon of Allergy and Airways Diseases Paents’ Associaons
EU Transparency Register Number: 720047092329-73
We extend our hearelt gratude to the EFA COPD Working Group Members for their invaluable insights and
naonal perspecves, which have shaped this report.
EFA is thankful to its sustainable corporate partners Roche and Sanofi and Regeneron Alliance for their unrestricted
grants 2023 for the COPD Standards of Care project that made this report possible.
EFA is thankful to its sustainable corporate partners AstraZeneca, Roche and Sanofi and Regeneron Alliance for their
unrestricted grants 2024 for this COPD Beyond Care project.
www.copd.efanet.org
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@European Federaon of Allergy and Airways Diseases Paents Associaons
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Access the EFA COPD web report
