COPD Foundation Plans Advocacy, Awareness Activities Throughout November COPD Month
October 30, 2009
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ifdy Perez, COPD Foundation
Email:
Tel: 1-866-731-2673, ext. 398
Washington, DC (October 30, 2009)—The COPD Foundation is sponsoring and participating in several activities as part of November COPD Awareness Month. Among these activities is the launch of the first edition of the Big Fat Reference Guide® on Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, the first dissemination of the COPD Foundation’s new monthly e-newsletter, advocacy meetings and free lung health testing events at state capitols.
One of the most comprehensive guides on COPD will launch this month. The COPD Big Fat Reference Guide® (BFRG) will provide detailed information about COPD, including testing and treatment, diet, nutrition, activity and fitness, the management of environmental risk factors, and coping with COPD.
In addition to the BFRG, the COPD Foundation is disseminating a new monthly e-newsletter. This e-newsletter will keep subscribers informed about research updates, news and information on COPD and hot topics both from Capitol Hill as well as from COPD patients’ backyards.
Individuals who are symptomatic/at risk for or seeking information about COPD can visit one of the various Mobile Spirometry Unit (MSU) events around the country during the month.
John McGuire, Director of Professional Relations for the COPD Foundation, says it’s important for everyone to take a spirometry test. McGuire explains that there are millions of undiagnosed Americans who just believe their breathlessness is a symptom of getting older. Yet in reality, they may have COPD.
“It’s all about knowing how healthy your lungs are,” he says. “It’s important to know how your lungs are doing, just as it’s important to check your cholesterol and blood pressure.”
Events across the country include:
- On November 18th, World COPD Day, the Foundation will be working with the Minnesota Respiratory Society at the state capitol in Minnesota to provide spirometry tests to the public from 9 AM to 3 PM. Senator D. Scott Dibble will be present as well.
- In partnership with the Kentucky COPD Coalition, the Foundation will be at three Wal-Mart stores in Kentucky (Whiteburg on the 19th, Hazard on the 20th, and Jackson on the 21st) offering free spirometry tests and resources.
- Spirometry testing will also take place at the state capital in Florida from 8 AM to 2 PM, in conjunction with the Florida Society for Respiratory Care (FSRC).
In addition to these spirometry testing events on World COPD Day, the COPD Foundation’s grassroots advocacy program, Operation 435, is coordinating several events throughout the month. Created in order to address several of the issues facing the COPD community, one of its first initiatives is to collect names in a petition that can be used to show legislators and public officials that COPD is a growing concern.
“It goes back to this basic issue: COPD places a significant burden on our country,” says Joe LaMountain, Director of Patient Advocacy for the COPD Foundation. “If thousands of COPDers sign their names on the Stop COPD! petition, they’ll show their local and national leaders that people in their districts care about COPD,” he says.
According to LaMountain, the key steps towards forming a state/local movement include having COPD patients sign the Stop COPD! Petition, inform their friends and families about the issue, talk about it at social functions and send out their own e-mail blasts. Their goal is to accrue more than 10,000 signatures for the petition by the end of this year.
Throughout the month, COPD Foundation President John Walsh will also participate in video and radio features that will air throughout the U.S. to raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of COPD.
“It’s important for the members of the COPD community to take the opportunity that this COPD-dedicated month provides to stand up and talk about COPD,” says Walsh. “Every member of the community can be a part of this awareness movement that can make a difference for all those affected by COPD.”
More events can be found on the COPD Foundation’s website calendar (http://www.copdfoundation.org/news/events) or by calling the C.O.P.D. Information Line at 1-866-316-COPD (2673).
About the COPD Foundation:
The COPD Foundation is dedicated to developing and supporting programs which improve the quality of life through research, education, early diagnosis, and enhanced therapy for persons whose lives are impacted by Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The COPD Foundation has several programs dedicated to informing, empowering, educating, and engaging individuals affected by COPD, including both diagnosed and undiagnosed individuals, their families and friends, and their medical professionals. For more information, please visit: http://www.copdfoundation.org.