First Florida COPD Summit scheduled in Orlando November 7, 2008
November 11, 2008
Contact: Jorge Zamudio
COPD Foundation
866-731-2673, ext. 246
Release Oct. 17, 2008
First Florida COPD Summit scheduled in Orlando Nov. 7; aims for statewide COPD Coalition, action plan to combat increasing illness, deaths due to lung disease
ORLANDO, FL – Multiple academic, government and advocacy organizations will discuss creating a statewide COPD Coalition to combat the growing burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) at the first Florida COPD Summit in Orlando Nov. 7.
COPD – an umbrella term for lung diseases including emphysema and chronic bronchitis – is the fourth leading cause of death in Florida and the United States, and the only leading cause of death that is increasing.
“The goal of the COPD Coalition will be to develop a statewide plan for addressing the COPD burden in the state of Florida, including strategies for public and private initiatives and partnerships,” according to John Walsh, President of the COPD Foundation.
The health care cost of COPD in Florida was $948 million in 2002 (the latest year for which state figures are available), with more than 51,000 hospitalizations due to the disease that year, an increase of 71 percent from 1992. The cost of COPD in the United States in 2007 was estimated to be about $42 billion, including $26 billion in direct health care expenditures.
COPD Summit Steering Committee members are Veena B. Antony, MD, University of Florida; Michael Neal Baxley, MD, Cigna Healthcare; Robert Campbell, MD, Florida State University; Candace Holloway, American Lung Association and Florida Thoracic Society; Robert Schwartz, MD, University of Miami; David Solomon, MD, University of South Florida; John Wilgis, Florida Society for Respiratory Care; and Jorge Zamudio, COPD Foundation.
The summit meeting is hosted by the COPD Foundation with support through a sponsorship by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. It will take place at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport.
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. For more information, visit http://www.copdfoundation.org/