First Maryland COPD Coalition Summit To Be Held This Month
April 15, 2010
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ifdy Perez, COPD Foundation
Email:
Tel: 1-866-731-2673, ext. 398
Stakeholders from Across the State Come to Draft COPD Action Plan
Washington, D.C. (April 15, 2010)—Stakeholders from all areas of the Maryland community will get together this month for the first Maryland COPD Coalition Summit to address the burden of COPD in the state.
The Coalition will produce a COPD State Action Plan to help coordinate existing services and available resources, identify gaps in services and provide a guide for future endeavors.
The Maryland COPD Coalition was created with the help of leadership from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (MDDHMH), the COPD Foundation and the American Lung Association.
The summit, which will be held April 20th at the BWI Airport Marriott in Baltimore, MD, will be attended by numerous organizations representing all types of providers, government officials, payers, employers, and patients.
“It’s about detection, education, quality of life, data surveillance, awareness, and it’s going to be dealing with health management and delivery of care,” John Walsh, president of the COPD Foundation, says. “It’s about addressing challenges that patients face and how they can be overcome. It’s about what is currently available in Maryland and what needs to be done.”
In Maryland alone, COPD is the fourth leading cause of death, which is also the national statistic. According to the American Lung Association, in 2008 in Maryland there were over 250,000 individuals diagnosed with emphysema and chronic bronchitis, which is equivalent to almost 5 percent of the state’s population.
Walsh says this summit is important because the action plan could determine how the state proceeds in addressing the issue of COPD in the next five years. COPD will increasingly burden the state’s citizens, public health system and employers and the action plan is a great step towards addressing the many issues that result from the disease.
“We need a good action plan, a good road map that we can follow to improve the quality of life,” he says. This summit will serve as the first step in taking action for COPD in Maryland.
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.
About COPD
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S. and the only chronic disease growing in mortality. It affects approximately 24 million Americans but only 12 million are diagnosed. COPD includes chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and adult onset (refractory) asthma. Symptoms include breathlessness, wheezing, and chronic coughing. For more information about COPD, visit http://www.copdfoundation.org or call 1-866-316-COPD (2673).