World COPD Day 2019 with IPCRG

Published on 19 November 2019.

It is World COPD Day on 20 November and a good opportunity to reflect on whether people with COPD are being offered the support they need.

COPD is now estimated to be the fourth leading cause of death globally, but it is also a major cause of poor quality of life, early retirement, absenteeism and presenteeism, causing distress to individuals, their families and challenges for employers.   

Have a look at some highly practical resources for clinicians from IPCRG, the respiratory SIG of WONCA Europe written and reviewed by primary care clinicians with a respiratory interest:

·         Predicting diagnosis in primary care patients suspected of obstructive respiratory disease

·         Early diagnosis of COPD

·         Spirometry

·         Helping patients quit tobacco

·         Improving care for women with COPD: guidance for primary care

·         Pulmonary Rehabilitation in the community: guide for providers and referrers

·         Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) helps people breathe better, feel good, and do more: Why you should invest in PR for your population: the business case for PR  (see also www.ipcrg.org/PR)

·         Palliative Care

Research in primary care

·         Findings from our FRESH AIR programme diagnosis and treatment of chronic lung diseases where resources are limited funded by a research grant from European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 680997, TRIAL ID NTR5759 

·         Updates from Breathe Well research in primary care, funded by the UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) 


If you are interested in primary care respiratory research, do consider submitting an abstract to IPCRG's world conference in Dublin 28-30 May 2020: www.ipcrg2020.org. Deadline for abstracts is 27 January.

Patient resources