A charity has called for more action to improve lung health after discovering that the United Kingdom has the highest death rate for lung conditions in Western Europe. According to Asthma + Lung UK, between 2011 and 2018, half a million people died from lung conditions such as asthma and complications from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and pneumonia. Turkey was the only European country with a higher lung disease death rate than the UK, and people in the UK are three times more likely to die from lung disease than people in Finland, which has the lowest lung disease death rates in Europe.
According to Asthma + Lung UK, lung conditions must be treated with the same seriousness as other major illnesses such as heart disease and cancer. Lung disease is the third leading cause of death in the United Kingdom, and more than 12 million people will develop a lung condition during their lifetime. The pandemic, which has put a significant strain on respiratory services, has exacerbated many of the problems with early diagnosis, treatment, and care. However, even before Covid-19, many people with asthma and COPD did not receive adequate care, according to the charity.
