Our Healthy Lungs for Life campaign continues its ‘Breathe clean air’ theme this year, spreading awareness of the importance of air quality to lung health. We launched this year’s campaign at the ERS International Congress in Paris, with a high-profile public event in the centre of the city.
The event opened in Paris on Friday 14 September with a press conference involving ELF and ERS leadership and Anne Souyris, the assistant mayor of Paris responsible for health, in a marquee on the parvis of the City Hall. The conference introduced the Healthy Lungs for Life campaign, discussed why clean air is so important to lung health, and gave a quick preview of some of the scientific findings to be presented at the ERS International Congress.
Following the official opening, members of the public were warmly welcomed into the marquee for a free spirometry test and professional advice on protecting their lung health. Between 800–900 citizens and tourists keen to find out more about their lung health came along to the event, which ran all day on Friday 14 and Saturday 15 September.
We were also joined by local patient and professional organisations including FFAAIR (Fédération française des associations & amicales de malades, insuffisants ou handicapés respiratoires), Foundation du Souffle and SPLF (Société de Pneumologie de Langue Française) who were on hand to give out information about quitting smoking and living with a variety of lung conditions to the public.
All spirometry equipment was kindly provided by ndd, who were also onsite to provide technical support. Spirometry training for our volunteer testers was carried out by Jellien Makonga-Braaksma and Prof Anh Tuan Dinh-Xuan at Hôpital Cochin in Paris in association with the ERS Spirometry Training Programme.
We want to thank everybody that contributed to the event for their help in making it such a success.
The Healthy Lungs for Life campaign was also featured prominently within the ERS International Congress, spreading its important messages to over 22,000 healthcare professionals from around the globe.
The ELF stand in the World Village was a space for delegates to discuss holding their own Healthy Lungs for Life events, and to pick up toolkits with more information and support. Delegates were also encouraged to pledge to hold an event in their own communities and add their cities to our map – with pins throughout Europe – as well as Africa, Asia and North and South America.
Now that the campaign has launched, we need your help to spread the Healthy Lungs for Life messages as far as possible. Why not hold your own event in your community?
Toolkits and free resources to help you run an event are available online in a range of different languages.
If you are interested in setting up your own event and need more information, or want to register your event, contact us (info@europeanlung.org).
