Lifting the weight on our lungs

Take a deep breath. Most of us do it 20,000 times a day without thinking.

- José Luis Castro

But for hundreds of millions of people around the world, every breath is an act of effort — an act of endurance.

That struggle has a name: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). It is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, claiming more than 3 million lives each year. And yet, it remains one of the least recognised.

On this World COPD Day, we are called to do something simple but powerful: to notice. To see the people who are living with this disease — and to act early enough so that others never have to.

The good news is that COPD is preventable and treatable; but too often it is diagnosed too late to give the victims a fighting chance. This is especially true in lowand middle-income countries, where nearly 90% of COPD deaths occur and people are often treated for pneumonia again and again before anyone tests their lungs.