Disease Burden
New report warns of huge economic impact of COPD, calls for global talks
on the disease
COPD Uncovered, a new
report issued 18 November
2009 reveals for the first time
that people between the ages
of 40 to 65 are emerging as the
new face of this disease.
Authored by the UK’s
Education for Health and
other leading experts, the
report uncovers a new, younger
majority of COPD patients,
who are in the prime of their
career, and financially responsible
for the care of their children
and ageing parents. The
authors call for policymakers to
read the report and challenge
their thinking on how COPD
should be addressed in this
critical age group, who are
highly depended upon by
society as leading wage earners.
COPD affects 210 million
people and is predicted to be
the third leading cause of
death globally in ten years
time. A severely debilitating
disease, COPD dramatically
impairs the
productivity of
this population. In fact, the
report found that people
between 40 and 65 with
COPD miss as many as ten
hours of work per week
because of their condition. On
a global scale, that represents
more than two billion working
hours lost each week worldwide.
Additionally, COPD
causes nearly 28,000 years of
lost productivity annually.
The report deduces that if left
unchecked, COPD could have
significant global workforce
and economic implications on
patients, families, employers
and society as the disease escalates.
“Given the potential
economic impact, it is critical
that 40 to 65 year olds with COPD are able to lead an
active and productive life,”
said Monica Fletcher, Chief
Executive of Education for
Health. “In releasing this
report we want to spark an
important global dialogue
with key global stakeholders
on how best to invest in
earlier diagnosis and the
management of these younger
patients.”
Key insights from the report:
● COPD costs more than
asthma and diabetes: The
cost of COPD exceeds that
of many other serious, longterm
conditions including
asthma and diabetes. The
worldwide burden of COPD
is nearly double that of
diabetes and it causes more
deaths.
● Effective COPD treatment
must look beyond smoking
cessation: It is true that the
primary cause of COPD is
cigarette smoke and
smoking cessation is an
important part of COPD
management. Yet many
former smokers develop
symptoms and are diagnosed
a decade or two after
they stopped. In fact, even if
all smoking stopped today,
the effect on COPD statistics
would not be seen for up
to 20 years.
● COPD puts pressure on
healthcare systems: One in
six European and US
patients had visited the ER
or hospital in a six month
period 2006-2007.
Extrapolating these figures
indicates that up to 64
million COPD patients
globally may be admitted
to hospital due to their
condition each year.
Additionally, a large
majority of COPD patients
suffer from co-morbidities,
such as heart disease, high
blood pressure and
diabetes. In fact, 40% suffer
from heart disease and as
many as 42% from high
blood pressure.
● Families may also face
burden: More women than
men are now being be diagnosed
with COPD(14) – a
patient segment central to
family care.
COPD Uncovered
COPD Uncovered represents
the combined efforts of a
multi-disciplinary committee
of international experts,
coming together to bring
forward some of the most
burning issues in COPD. Their
aim is to highlight the impact
of COPD in an understudied
and ignored patient segment
between the ages of 40 and 65.
The COPD Uncovered
initiative is sponsored by
Novartis Pharma AG.
COPD Uncovered can be
downloaded from this URL:
http://www.nrtc-usa.org/documents/COPDUncoveredReport111809.pdf 
Date
of upload: 26th Jan 2010
