The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here would organise awareness programmes to sensitise people about chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which causes around five lakh deaths per year in the country.
According to AIIMS director AK Mohapatra, COPD is a highly prevalent disease, having a large impact on quality of life for patients and their families, and kills millions of people worldwide. Yet, perhaps one-quarter to one-half of people with clinically significant COPD don’t know they have it. Reducing the burden of COPD worldwide depends on identifying a greater proportion of the people who have developed the disease, and getting them treatment and other help, he added.
To make the people aware about the disease, the AIIMS has planned to carry out awareness programmes throughout this week on the occasion of the World COPD Day, 2013. This year, the day will be held on November 20 and on the day, the institution would hold patient awareness programmes and screening of COPD.
As a part of community outreach programme, doctors would visit two nearby schools, including DAV Public School, Kalinga Nagar on November 21 and St Xavier School, Khandagiri on November 23 and speak to the students regarding COPD, its systems, causes and the hazards of smoking and how they can play a part in bringing down the incidence of the disease.