Lung Health Starts Early and Needs Protecting Throughout Life

World Lung Day 2026 puts a spotlight on lung health across the life course

September 23, 2026

Glenview, IL - Lung health begins early in life and needs to remain a priority throughout life, says the global respiratory community on World Lung Day 2026.

This year’s World Lung Day theme, A Lifetime of Lung Health, is led by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), which brings together nine leading respiratory organizations representing around 100,000 respiratory health professionals worldwide.

FIRS, of which the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) is a founding member, is calling for greater focus on the factors that shape lung health across the life course, including lung development in childhood, the air we breathe, exposure to tobacco and nicotine, infections, occupational and environmental risks, access to health care, and healthy lung aging.

The lungs develop rapidly before birth and during childhood, making the early years particularly important. But lung health continues to be shaped by our environments, behaviors, and access to health care throughout adulthood and into older age.

FIRS is using World Lung Day to highlight four connected areas:

• Healthy Lung Development: Protecting lung development from the earliest stages of life and reducing exposure to factors that can damage developing lungs
• Healthy Lung Growth: Supporting children and young people to reach their full lung potential and addressing preventable risks that can affect lung health into adulthood
• Healthy Lungs for Life: Preventing respiratory disease, supporting early diagnosis, and ensuring people can access the care they need, while tackling environmental and social factors that affect lung health
• Healthy Lung Aging: Recognizing the importance of maintaining lung health as we age and ensuring respiratory conditions are identified and treated appropriately in later life

Around the world, respiratory diseases continue to place a major burden on individuals, families, and health systems. Many of the factors that influence lung health are preventable or can be addressed through earlier action.

That means protecting lung health cannot be the responsibility of health care professionals alone.

Governments can create healthier environments and stronger health systems. Communities can support healthier places to live and work. Health professionals can strengthen prevention, diagnosis, and care. And individuals can take steps to protect their own lung health.

This World Lung Day, FIRS is asking the global respiratory community to share the action they are taking to protect lung health and to help make lung health part of the conversation at every stage of life.

World Lung Day takes place on September 25, 2026. FIRS is inviting respiratory organizations, health care professionals, patient groups, advocates, and communities around the world to join the campaign, share their activities, and help put lung health on the agenda.

About the American College of Chest Physicians
The American College of Chest Physicians^®(CHEST) is the global leader in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases. Its mission is to champion the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication, and research. It serves as an essential connection to clinical knowledge and resources for its 18,000+ members from around the world who provide patient care in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. For information about CHEST and its family of journals, including the flagship journal CHEST, visit chestnet.org.

About the Forum of International Respiratory Societies
The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) is an organization comprised of the world's leading international respiratory societies working together to improve lung health globally: American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST), American Thoracic Society (ATS), Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), Asociación Latinoamericana De Tórax (ALAT), European Respiratory Society (ERS), International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA), and the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD).

The goal of FIRS is to unify and enhance efforts to improve lung health through the combined work of its more than 100,000 members globally.

FIRS launched World Lung Day in 2017 to raise awareness of the importance of lung health and the need for action to prevent and treat respiratory disease.

World Lung Day resources are available from FIRS for organizations and individuals wishing to support the campaign. For more information about FIRS, please contact Helen Dugdale at helen.dugdale@firsnet.org.