Respiratory disease is one of the top three killers in Wales with 1 in 5 people have been diagnosed with a lung condition at some point in their lives.
Lung disease in Wales costs over £500 million, making it the fourth most costly disease area.
Key stats
- Asthma: In Wales, around 314,000 people are currently receiving treatment; including 59,000 children.
- COPD: 74,000 people diagnosed with COPD in Wales.
- IPF: 2,000 people living with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in Wales.
- Bronchiectasis: estimated that around 1 in every 1,000 adults in Wales have the condition.
- OSA: estimated to be at least 13% of adult men and 6% of adult women living with Obstructive Sleep Apnoea.
- Air pollution: Around 2,000 people in Wales die early every year due to dirty air
Our work
- We are campaigning for lung health to be treated as a national priority and fight for a Wales where everyone can breathe clean air with healthy lungs.
- We raise the profile of lung conditions in the Senedd and lead the Cross-Party Group for Lung Health. This provides a platform for MSs from all political parties to discuss issues relating to asthma and to ensure government policies work to improve care and services for people with asthma.
- We worked with the Welsh Government to develop the Clean Air Plan and are campaigning for a Clean Air Act alongside Healthy Air Cymru colleagues. All parties supported a Clean Air Act in their manifestos and yet the Welsh Government delays it.
- We work with ASH Wales and other partners to campaign for more investment in smoking cessation and further restrictions to keep young people safe from tobacco. We successfully campaigned for the new Tobacco Control strategy to aim for less than 5% of people smoking by 2030.
- We have championed a nationwide programme for lung screening to be delivered across Wales.
- We worked with Welsh Government to develop and implement the Respiratory Health Delivery Plan and are now shaping the next plan.
- We are working with the physiotherapy community to champion the right to rehabilitation so that everyone with lung conditions has the right to some form of pulmonary rehabilitation when they need it.
You can get in touch with our Wales team by calling 0300 222 5800
Twitter @asthmalungwales
NEWS & UPDATES
Check out our manifesto for the last Welsh General Election.
Can you join our panel to help improve your local healthcare services?
Come join a virtual panel of volunteers with lung conditions. You can help shape our work with the Welsh Government and give us the perspective of what people with your condition need. The patient panel includes people living with asthma, bronchiectasis, COPD, ILD, sleep apnoea, carers, and some rarer lung conditions. Patient voices are so important to improve care.
If you are interested in being involved in providing feedback on local healthcare services, why not find out more about the Patient Panel? Please email wales@asthmaandlung.org.uk