President's Report

The announcement of life itself at birth by a loud cry has brought joy to millions from time immemorial. The tragedy of leaving this world with the "last breath" has also dramatized the lungs more than any other organ in the body.

Then why has it taken so long for this organ to get its fair shake in modern times?

The heart has earned its place as the "heart of the ... ," "at the heart of it all," "he has no heart," and "comes from the heart" in today's popular usage.

What about the lungs that supply oxygen to the heart? When the New York Times published public education material on different organs in the body (May 13, 2008), lungs were conspicuously missing!

Is it then, as practitioners of lung health, that we have not done justice to bring the organ we care for so much to the public notice?

Grim Statistics

The readers are familiar with these numbers--lung disease is very common and accounts for 19% of total deaths and 15% of disability-adjusted life-years in the world.

Tobacco-related diseases kill 5 million people worldwide and 1.5 million from lung cancer.

Despite the staggering numbers of 9 million new cases in 2007 and 0.7 million deaths a year from TB, no new drugs have been developed for TB since the 1970s, and the only vaccine available is a century old.

Pneumonia kills 2 million children under 5 each year; more than 250,000 asthma deaths per year are attributable to lack of treatment; and COPD will become the third most common cause of death worldwide in the near future, and, yet, it is frequently underdiagnosed.

Each year, 250,000 to 500,000 people die of seasonal flu in the world; and when new strains strike, the morbidity and mortality can be very high.

While the attention of the entire world community is focused on lungs, such as during the current H1N1 pandemic, it fades as soon as the threat is over. Lung disease exacts a tremendous financial burden on the patient, caregiver, and society.

Nearly half of the world's population breathes air that is polluted. Early lung disease detection methods, such as spirometry, are either not readily available or not utilized when available, making early detection a challenge.

Policies to regulate air quality are lagging. As of 2007, only 148 of the 193 World Health Organization member-states have ratified the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

2010: The Year of the Lung

That the year 2010 be designated as "The Year of the Lung" was proposed by the leading world respiratory associations to raise awareness of lung health and advocate for lung health globally.

The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) has come together to declare "2010: The Year of the Lung" (YOL). FIRS comprises the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), American Thoracic Society (ATS), European Respiratory Society (ERS), Asociación Latinoamericana de Tórax (ALAT), Asia Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), and International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (IUATLD).

As a group of respiratory and public health experts from around the globe, we want to engage our partners to raise the awareness of the deep impact of lung diseases worldwide. We eventually want policymakers to increase funding for lung disease research, enact smoking cessation legislation, support preventive measures, and support air quality legislation.

Objectives of 2010: The Year of the Lung

1. Promote global awareness of lung health issues and diseases.
2. Increase funding for lung health research.
3. Develop and implement tools to prevent lung disease and disability.
4. Diagnose and treat lung disease early in the course of illness.
5. Research new diagnostic tools and medicines to treat and cure lung disease.
6. Encourage programs that promote personal lung health (smoking cessation, lung hygiene, protective masks, flu vaccine).

The ACCP and 2010: The Year of the Lung

For the past 75 years, the ACCP has been committed to the preven-tion and treatment of diseases of the chest. This commitment, combined with the persistent efforts of 17,500 members in more than 100 countries, has helped disseminate ACCP's valuable lung health programs, initiatives, and education materials to reach countless patients and families in need.

The ACCP motto for 2010: YOL is "From Prevention to Intervention." As part of 2010: YOL, the ACCP will encourage worldwide lung health from "prevention to intervention," with core initiatives focusing on the areas of tobacco prevention, as well as the diagnosis and management of COPD and lung cancer.

The ACCP will coordinate with all national and international members to integrate YOL messages and promote YOL initiatives, including targeted Web pages that highlight ACCP clinical and patient tools and edu-cation material.

What Are We Doing Now?

Tobacco Prevention: For the last decade, members of the ACCP (www.chestnet.org) and The CHEST Foundation (www.chestfoundation.org), the ACCP's philanthropic arm, have delivered The Foundation's Lung LessonsSM program to schoolchildren across the United States and around the world. As part of the program, students learn how to keep their lungs healthy and about the dangers of tobacco use from ACCP members and other ambassadors of the College.

Each year, the ACCP organizes a special education program for schoolchildren in the host city during the College's annual meeting. The next Lung LessonsSM school outreach event will take place in November 2010 in Vancouver, BC, Canada, coincident with the ACCP CHEST 2010 annual meeting.

Beyond the Lung LessonsSM program, the ACCP and The CHEST Foundation will showcase and distribute the ACCP Evils of Tobacco, a culturally sensitive CD-ROM-based program that illustrates the severe hazards of tobacco use. The program, which includes talking points and material for presenters, has been developed in seven languages and has already been shared with thousands of children around the world.

The program "Ant E Tobacco," that includes a cartoon video, cartoon book, and coloring book for elementary schoolchildren, has been presented to more than 20,000 children in Texas.

COPD: Through its regional COPD education program, COPD: What Really Works? A Best Practices Workshop for Primary Care, the ACCP will provide pertinent COPD screening, diagnosis, and treatment information to primary care health clinicians. In 2010, the programs will be hosted in 20 major markets around the country and will be a timely vehicle for spreading the YOL messages, especially as they relate to COPD.

Lung Cancer: The ACCP publishes Diagnosis and Management of Lung Cancer, one of the leading evidence-based guidelines in lung cancer diag-nosis, staging, and management. Throughout the 2010: YOL, the ACCP will build on the strong foundation of the guidelines to increase awareness regarding lung cancer prevention, diagnosis, and management. The ACCP also will provide education material for clinicians, patients, and patient families regarding critical care units and end-of-life and critical care family assistance.

I invite your active participation to take this campaign to your neighborhood and welcome any comments or suggestions.