Be an Advocate!

Take an active stand in creating awareness about COPD!

The interests of the COPD community need to be represented in government and legislature, and it’s up to you as a COPD Advocate to take action to help our cause! By visiting our Operation 435 campaign website and our COPD Action Center, you can help educate all your elected officials and the media about the seriousness of COPD and the need for a stronger governmental response.

Issues that Concern the COPD Community

In 2001, COPD cost the U.S. Government approximately $32.1 billion in direct and indirect health care costs, and over half of the 24 million individuals who are symptomatic or developing COPD, aren’t being treated properly because they don’t know they have it¹. Underdiagnosis of COPD is becoming a burden on the country and without proper attention and representation, the problem will only worsen.

Operation 435

Our goal is to build a movement of patients and people that care about COPD and want to do something about it. Our plan is to educate all 435 Representatives in Congress – as well as all 100 Senators, 50 governors and thousands of state Senators and Representatives – about COPD. What do we want? A cure for COPD, better treatments and greater access to care, better quality of life, and an end to discrimination against people with COPD. But we need your help! The only way our elected officials will ever make COPD a priority is if YOU and the 24 million Americans with COPD take action.

Take Action Today!

(1) Sign the Stop COPD! Petition – The COPD Foundation is trying to collect 10,000 names on our petition and then deliver them to elected officials across the country. We believe this will show them that a lot of people care about COPD and want something done about it! You can add your name by clicking here. Please pass the word along to your friends, family members, coworkers and others in your community. The more people that add their name, the more successful we’ll be! Please contact Jamie Lamson, Public Policy and Advocacy Manager, at if you have questions or ideas on how to make this effort a succcess.

(2) Take Action Today! – Visit the COPD Action Center and educate your elected officials about COPD. We’ve created pre-written emails you can send to your Governor, President Obama, Congress and your state legislature. You can also write your local media, get the name and contact information of your elected officials, and sign up to receive our FREE advocacy newsletter. By taking action on important issues today, you can help us build a better world for tomorrow.

Advocacy . . . in a box

It’s always a wonderful feeling when you get everything you need to start a big task packed in a small box. In fall of 2007, the COPD Foundation—supported by a grant from the Alpha-1 Foundation—joined with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI’s) COPD Learn More Breathe Better Campaign to create exactly that: an advocacy “kit-in-a-box.”

The fashionably designed box carries everything a leader—or rookie advocate—would need to become a successful pioneer in COPD awareness for their local community. The Kit includes tools and materials designed to help advocacy organizations, patient groups and health care professionals spread the word about COPD. The materials can be adapted for local community-based presentations or informal support groups, office-based/waiting room outreach, large scale or regional awareness, screening, or media events or even more formal presentation settings, such as grand rounds. Contents of the Kit include:

Cover Letter
Campaign Backgrounder
Fact Sheets for Patients
Fact Sheets for At-Risk Individuals
Poster
Speakers Guide/Presentation Materials
Radio PSAs
Print PSAs
Educational Video (DVD) and Companion Guide for Presenters
Materials Order Form
Alpha-1 Fact Sheet
COPD Digest
COPD Foundation Resource Connection Cards
Evaluation Form
Event Planning Tips
Press Release Template

For more information about the Campaign and how to order the free COPD Resource Kit, visit the Campaign website.

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