COPD must be addressed as national issue

The Faculty of Public Health Medicine of the RCPI has called for the recognition and prioritisation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) as a national health issue. The call, made to coincide with National Lung Health week, follows the publication of a position paper aimed at highlighting the disease, which is now the third most common cause of acute hospital admission of adults in Ireland. Dr Máire O’Connor, Specialist in Public Health Medicine and spokesperson on COPD for the Faculty, believes it is crucial that there is immediate action taken to recognise and prioritise the condition. “In the case of…