...find out about the US COPD Coalition and our goals

The US COPD Coalition brings together health professional organizations, patient organizations and foundations, individuals, and government agencies working to improve the lives of people with COPD.

Recent international guidelines on COPD call for a unified effort to reduce the prevalence and mortality of this disease, and the US COPD Coalition is contributing to this effort.

• What are the Goals of the US COPD Coalition?
• How does the Coalition work?
• What is the Coalition doing to help?

What are the goals of the US COPD Coalition?

• Charitable Organizations Sustain and expand a strong network of organizations and individuals to build COPD awareness and action.
• Increase awareness of COPD among patients, caregivers, the medical community, and the media.
• Reach undiagnosed patients with information about COPD and improve quality of life for all COPD patients.
• Educate key audiences on how to improve prevention and detection of the disease.
• Define and eliminate barriers to successful COPD programs.
• Stimulate additional scientific research aimed at better understanding COPD and seeking new approaches to prevention and treatment.

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How does the Coalition Work?

The US COPD Coalition brings together many different groups to consult and plan action on COPD in the US. The participating organizations themselves decide how the partnership will work and what their activities will be. Participating organizations continue to have their own COPD programs, their own target groups, and their own goals.

The Coalition is helping its Partner organizations and other collaborators conduct education programs, screenings for at-risk patients, workshops, and other special events to raise awareness of COPD. We are also helping to coordinate action on COPD and develop unified, consistent messages on COPD to reach national audiences.

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What is the Coalition doing to help?

Making National COPD Awareness Month a yearly event.
President George W. Bush established November 2001 as National COPD Awareness Month through a Presidential Proclamation. This effort provided a strong motivation for organizations to come together in the US COPD Coalition and raise the profile of this "forgotten disease."

The Coalition is working to encourage the designation of November as National COPD Awareness Month each year, and plans to assist Coalition Partners in their activities on behalf of National COPD Awareness Month.

You can help by emailing your Senator and your Representative in support of COPD Awareness Month!

Planning National Conferences on COPD.
The first National COPD Conference was held November 14-15, 2003, at the Sheraton National Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. The Conference brought together committed individuals and organizations to learn, exchange information, and plan the mobilization against COPD. The Coalition plans to organize more National Conferences in the future.

Participating in World COPD Day.
The Coalition organizes activities on World COPD Day, a partnership between health care groups and respiratory educators to raise awareness about COPD that was held for the first time on November 20, 2002.

Coordinating the Congressional COPD Caucus.
The Congressional COPD Caucus, launched by Senator Mike Crapo (ID) on March 30, 2004, gives the COPD community a public platform in Congress to bring attention to critical issues that have been identified by the US COPD Coalition.

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