Daily Times

KARACHI: Around 90 per cent of Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or COPD deaths occur in low and middle-income countries including Pakistan where cigarette smoking is the most commonly encountered risk factor for COPD, health experts warned on Thursday.

By 2015, COPD had been killing more than 3 million people worldwide every year that was 5 per cent of all deaths globally in that year. In Pakistan, 18.7 per cent smoking rate and breathlessness alone is the most frequently reported symptom of COPD, they added.

It is estimated by WHO that close to 210 million cases of COPD could possibly be found worldwide, while some estimates put this number as high as 400-600 million. COPD kills on average one person every 10 seconds and the death rate from COPD is increased about 10-fold for each 15 cigarettes smoked daily and regularly in the past.

This was revealed by Pakistan Chest Society during a press conference on Thursday here at Karachi Press Club in the wake of observing December as COPD awareness month.

Experts said COPD is a lung ailment that is characterized by a persistent blockage of airflow from the lungs. It is an under-diagnosed, life-threatening lung disease that interferes with normal breathing and is not fully reversible.

It has been proved scientifically that smoking cigarettes from adolescence to adulthood costs on average 10 years of life, experts added.

“Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is one the most common respiratory disorders worldwide as 65 million people have moderate to severe COPD,” said Dr Nisar Ahmed Rao, Professor at Dow University’s Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases and Vice President Pakistan Chest Society.

“In Pakistan, the prevalence rate of COPD related symptoms is 18.5% and COPD patients with co-morbidities are 26.7%, while 76.7% COPD patients experience exacerbations,” Dr Nisar added.

According to World Health Organization, by 2030 COPD is predicted to become the third leading cause of death killing; over 4.5 million people worldwide.

Experts added that many cases of COPD are preventable by avoidance or early cessation of smoking, hence it is important that countries should adopt the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) and implement the MPOWER package of measures so that non-smoking becomes the norm globally.

MPOWER is a policy package intended to assist in the country-level implementation of effective interventions to reduce the demand for tobacco, as ratified by the World Health Organization (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

MPOWER measures of WHO stresses; monitoring of tobacco use and its prevention policies, protecting people from tobacco smoke, offering help to quit tobacco use, warning about the dangers of tobacco, enforcing bans on tobacco advertising/promotion/sponsorship, raising taxes on tobacco.

“Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) develops slowly and usually becomes apparent after 40 or 50 years of age. COPD is not curable, but treatment can relieve symptoms, improve quality of life and reduce the risk of death,” said Prof Dr Nadeem Ahmed Rizvi, President Pakistan Chest Society Sindh and Head of Department, Chest Ward Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre Karachi.

Dr Saifullah Baig, Assistant Professor at Dow University’s Ojha Institute of Chest Diseases and General Secretary of Pakistan Chest Society added, the COPD patients hospitalized for their condition are 33.3 per cent and 26.7 per cent COPD patients visited an emergency room due to their respiratory condition.

“The challenges in COPD management are access, cost, and non-adherence/poor compliance,” said Dr Saifullah. “Also, 50% percent of patients with COPD do not take their medications as prescribed, and the cost of the medication is believed to be one of the most important determinants of under use,” he added.