Joseph Carter: Tackling Scotland’s third biggest killer – respiratory disease
Imagine not being able to breathe, feeling you are suffocating, gasping for breath. In truth, this is the reality that many thousands of people face every day, coping with potentially life-threatening asthma attacks, severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) flare-ups or living with debilitating lung conditions like pulmonary fibrosis.
Respiratory diseases are the third biggest killer in Scotland and are one of the leading causes of winter pressures in the health service. But despite this, lung conditions like COPD and asthma continue to be severely overlooked and underfunded.
It’s five years since the Respiratory Care Action Plan was launched by the Scottish Government and extraordinarily little progress has been made to implement it.
Diagnostic waiting times are too long and far too few people are getting basic asthma and COPD care, including pulmonary rehabilitation (pulmonary rehabilitation is a tailored 6–8 week programme combining exercise and education for people with chronic lung diseases to help manage symptoms and improve quality of life).
That is why Asthma + Lung UK Scotland is calling on the next Scottish Government to focus on improving diagnosis, treatment and support, and preventing lung conditions by tackling air pollution, smoking rates and damp housing. There are 20 asks for political parties.
Among our proposed policies, we would like to see the development of a £3 million recovery fund for to ensure everyone has access to a timely diagnosis.
To catch up with the rest of the UK on lung cancer screening, we’d also like to see a similar programme in Scotland, including the following up of incidental findings.
In addition, targeted smoking services in deprived areas where smoking prevalence is higher, should be part of the next government’s plans to address smoking rates and tackle the health inequalities faced by those living in the most deprived areas.
The last five years have seen a number of achievements, such as the implementation of Low Emission Zones and tackling the rising scourge of cheap vaping products, but more could and should have been done for people with lung conditions.
We are very much looking forward to working with the newly elected MSPs to take forward our manifesto policies and create a Scotland where everyone can breathe clean air with healthy lungs. We are Asthma + Lung UK Scotland. This is our battle for breath.
To read our manifesto Our Battle for Breath, go to: Our Battle for Breath: Policy Priorities for the next Scottish Government | Asthma + Lung UK