New EU project puts a spotlight on lung health in childhood

A new project has launched that will encourage children to look after their lungs from a young age. The EU4Health-funded project, LungHealth4Life (LH4L), will introduce the concept of lung health checks and education on health risks to promote disease prevention.

Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) are an important public health problem due to their high prevalence, rising incidence and mortality rates, as well as their associated costs; in 2019, the healthcare cost of CRDs was estimated at EUR 380 bil. in the EU[1]).

In the past, smoking avoidance was considered the main prevention for CRDs. However, in recent years it has become clear that the risk factors contributing to the development of CRDs go beyond smoking and are the result of genetic, physiological and environmental exposures throughout someone’s lifetime[2].

Early detection of CRDs in children is essential as it can help encourage early behavioral changes to reduce exposure to risk factors and it can allow early treatment initiation when needed. LungHealth4Life integrates lung health checks, known as spirometry or lung function tests, with health promotion and disease prevention in schools.

The project explores the innovative concept that lung function testing can serve as a powerful tool to safeguard lung health on a population-wide scale, especially when paired with early education on health risks. Additionally, LungHealth4Life aims to identify and address societal and health inequalities that contribute to lung diseases and premature death.

This project’s goals are:

• the exchange of good practices in approaches related to children that will eventually help reduce CRDs in the EU,
• the implementation of school-based lung function testing in children across the EU,
• mapping the needs for efficient and effective implementation,
• identifying and addressing societal, health and environmental inequalities,
• educating on the risk factors that could cause CRDs,
• detecting early impaired lung function and
• determining the frequency of lung function abnormalities among children of school age.

LungHealth4Life was launched on 1 September 2024 and will run for 3 years. The countries involved are Poland, Portugal and Hungary. Led by Lungs Europe (a partnership of European Respiratory Society and European Lung Foundation), a consortium of 6 partners plans to explore the concept that lung function testing is an innovative way to protect lung health at a population level.

The project’s partners are:

• Associação Portuguesa de Medicina geral e familiar (APMGF)
• Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red (CIBER)
• European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients’ Associations (EFA)
• Lungs Europe
• National Koranyi Institute for TB and Pulmonology(NKIP)
• Polish Federation of Asthma, Allergy and COPD Patients’ Associations (POLFED)

For further information and queries please send an email to vlatka.matkovic@europeanlung.org and natalia.liagka@europeanlung.org.

Background information on CRDs: https://www.who.int/health-topics/chronic-respiratory-diseases#tab=tab_1

Lung facts: https://international-respiratory-coalition.org/lung-facts/

[1]Prevalence and attributable health burden of chronic respiratory diseases, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017 Soriano, Joan B et al. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, Volume 8, Issue 6, 585 – 596 DOI: 10.1016/S2213-2600(20)30157-0

[2] The European Union conference on chronic respiratory disease: purpose and conclusions, Decramer, Y. Sibille, A. Bush, K-H. Carlsen, K.F. Rabe, L. Clancy, A. Turnbull, B. Nemery, A. Simonds, T. Troosters, European Respiratory Journal Apr 2011, 37 (4) 738-742; DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00020211