Lung disease in low-income countries

IGHI host forum to discuss and disseminate research into chronic lung disease.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), chronic lung disease will become the third leading cause of death by 2030. Low- and middle-income countries are the worst hit, with 90% of all current deaths occurring in the region. The Institute of Global Health Innovation’s Global Health Forum this month focused on the causes of chronic lung diseases and why low-income countries have the highest rate of mortality.

The event began with Professor of Respiratory Epidemiology and Public Health from the National Heart and Lung Institute, Professor Peter Burney, introducing the scale of chronic lung disease and research efforts underway to understand it better.

 Mrs Jaymini H Patel, Medical Statistician from the National Heart and Lung Institute, talked about the risks of chronic airflow obstruction due to smoking in low-income countries and Dr Andre Amaral, Research Associate from the National Heart and Lung Institute, discussed the link between tuberculosis and chronic lung disease.

Professor Louise Donnelly, Professor of Respiratory Cell Biology, National Heart and Lung Institute, talked about the difference in mechanisms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in low-income settings.

Professor Frank Kelly, Deputy Director, MRC-PHE Centre for Environment and Health, and Mr Yutong Cai, Research Assistant in Environmental Epidemiology, presented their findings from AIRLESS where they have studied the effects of air pollution on residents in Beijing.

Our last speaker was Dr James Mackrill from the Dyson School of Design Engineering who described the challenges in design engineering that could improve measurements of lung size in low-income settings.

The full event can be watched in the video above and you can view the photos here. 

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The forum will be back in September after the summer break.  
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