Boehringer Ingelheim and GlaxoSmithKline Back EFA's Call for Urgent Improvements in Care for People With Lung Disease This World COPD Day

Brussels, Ingelheim, Germany and London, November 18 (ots/PRNewswire) -
Boehringer Ingelheim and GSK, companies with a strong heritage in
COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) and a commitment to
improved patient care, have today announced their support of The
European Federation of Allergy and Airways Diseases Patients'
Associations' (EFA) call for urgent improvement in the care of people
with COPD. To coincide with World COPD Day 2009, EFA has published a
comprehensive overview of COPD in Europe, the EFA Book on COPD in
Europe: Sharing and Caring, which highlights local successes and
serious shortfalls in the way the disease is diagnosed and managed.

COPD is a chronic lung disease associated with a high level of
mortality. According to the latest World Health Organization (WHO)
estimates, 210 million people suffer from COPD and it currently ranks
as the fourth leading cause of death. However, the WHO predicts that
it will become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2030. In
2005 COPD was estimated to have killed over 3 million people - more
than HIV/AIDS or lung and breast cancer combined. Despite this, COPD
remains a scarcely known, under- diagnosed and under-treated disease
that demands a changed approach to diagnosis and treatment. Fewer
than half of patients with the condition have a proper diagnosis and
only 35% of patients receive a regular prescribed medication.

These issues, among others, have been highlighted by EFA who
collected European data for the first time from patient groups'
perspectives and are now calling for more to be done to reduce the
burden of COPD and improve patient care. Over 11 million Europeans
are affected by COPD and face its debilitating consequences on a
daily basis.

EFA's book recognises that even in its early stages, COPD has a
devastating impact on patients' quality of life as it begins to
damage the lungs irreversibly causing sufferers to struggle for
breath and with simple daily tasks. In addition, patients are
frustrated about the difficulty in gaining effective management of
their condition including early diagnosis, education, support
services and access to the best treatments available. The goal of
EFA's efforts in the coming months will be to reduce the impact of
COPD on patients and their caregivers and to focus efforts on a call
to action for real improvements.

BI and GSK, who sponsored the project, support EFA's conclusion
that there is an urgent need for a coordinated strategy of advocacy
both at European and national level. To improve overall COPD
management, the following four areas of focus were identified:

- Increase the awareness of the public at large about COPD, its
symptoms and risk factors in order to prevent the disease and to
encourage sufferers to seek early diagnosis
- Raise the priority of COPD with policy makers to encourage the
creation of screening guidelines and mandates for early diagnosis and
management of the disease
- Improve the access to care and management for diagnosed COPD
patients
- Safeguard the respiratory health of future generations.

For full version please visit http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.co
m/corporate/news/press_releases/detail.asp?ID=7115

ots Originaltext: Boehringer Ingelheim and GSK
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Contact: Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, External Communications, Ute E
Schmidt, ute.schmidt@boehringer-ingelheim.com, Tel.:
+49-6132-779-7296 GSK Communications Director, Fiona Robertson, GSK
Respiratory Centre of Excellence fiona.2.roberston@gsk.com, Tel.:
+33-(0)-674-33-32-16