ERS and ELF host Healthy Lungs for Life and COPD awareness event at the European Parliament

The European Respiratory Society and European Lung Foundation hosted a well-attended Healthy Lungs for Life event at the European Parliament on Tuesday (17 November, 2015).

Hosted by Claudiu Ciprian Tănăsescu MEP, the event aimed to raise awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), ahead of World COPD Day, which was marked yesterday (18 November, 2015), among policy makers.

Healthy Lungs for Life is one of the largest ever lung health campaigns, raising awareness of the importance of healthy lungs to healthcare professionals, scientists, primary care, patients, policy makers and the public. This year’s theme, ‘Take the active option’ was launched in September at the ERS International Congress in Amsterdam.

The event featured presentations from ERS President Professor Jorgen Vestbo, ERS Chair Professor Peter Calverley, Professor Thierry Troosters on COPD and the importance of physical activity to lung health.

We were also pleased that Jos Donkers, a COPD patient who lives in the Netherlands, came to the event to speak about the realities of living with the condition on a daily basis and the importance of being physically active to his quality of life.

Free spirometry tests were offered to everyone attending the event and Healthy Lungs for Life pedometers were also given out to promote the ‘take the active option’ message of the campaign.

Find out more about Healthy Lungs for Life.

Watch the ‘take the active option’ video.