World Lung Day 2025: Raising Awareness on Global Respiratory Diseases

Theme for 2025 - healthy lungs healthy life

Why is it important to observe a world lung day: lungs are very essential as they are the portal for gas exchange - oxygen and carbondioxide, and are in direct and continuous contact with ambient air, posing a great risk from infections and air pollution. With increasing urbanisation and industrialisation, nearly 90% of world population are breathing polluted air

Burden of lung diseases

- Lung diseases including asthma copd TB lung cancer are one of the leading causes of deaths globally

- Lung cancer being the most common cancer and also leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide

- Respiratory infections including upper respiratory tract infections, pneumonia, TB are the most common infections

FIRS recommendations for healthy lungs

1. Individual and community level steps

- avoid smoking : active and passive

- Breathe clean air : Avoid polluted areas, Wearing masks, increasing plantation

- Choose active lifestyle : Regular physical activity, avoid motor vehicles, prefer bicycles and walking, Using public transport whenever possible

- Eating healthy and balanced diet rich in antioxidants,

- vaccination against common respiratory infections - flu and pneumonia

- Appropriate cough etiquette - preventing the spread of viral infections

- Supporting and participating in clean air policies and activities

2. Systemic change with two global campaigns at Institutional level

- Lung health taskforce

- a new way of evaluating the lung health, by considering not just medical factors but also the social and environmental things that affect the lung function throughout our life

- For appropriate lung evaluation - a spirometry toolkit with global standards to measure lung health has been developed for clinical use

- Increasing access to inhaled medicines

- Recognising the massive burden of COPD and asthma, initiatives are needed to create awareness about the importance of inhaled medications and clearing the myths and misbeliefs about inhalers

- This requires joint action from government, local bodies and NGO’s

On this World lung day, let’s promise ourselves

- to respect our lungs - they are the only source of oxygen to the body

- Protect our lungs from environmental pollution and infections

- Spread awareness on lung health

- Practice measures to prevent air pollution