PESHAWAR: The health experts have said that early diagnosis and proper treatment can prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Tuesday in connection with World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Pakistan Chest Society president Dr Arshad Javed urged media to play role in creating awareness among people about the disease so that they could stay healthy.

He said that tobacco smoking, pollution emanating from vehicle and indoor smoke were main causes of chest diseases. He said that smoking and environmental pollution were main risk factors of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the country.

Dr Arshad, who is also vice-chancellor of Khyber Medical University Peshawar, said that according to rough estimates, around 200 million people were suffering from COPD while nearly three million people, mostly from developing countries, died of the disease across the world.

Urges media to create awareness about preventive measures

Flanked by PCS central general secretary Dr Sadia Ashraf, provincial general secretary Dr Shahid Afridi and provincial information secretary Dr Taj Mohammad, the PCS president said that COPD was one of the six fatal diseases as mostly people having age of 40 years were suffering from it.

He said that for the last several years the mortality rate from COPD had risen by 60 per cent in the world. He said that it was feared that COPD could be third largest disease by 2030.

Dr Arshad said that breathlessness, needing increased efforts to breathe, excessive mucus, chronic cough and fatigue were the main symptoms of COPD. He said that it was a preventable disease that needed early diagnosis and proper treatment. He said that indoor pollution, outdoor pollution, occupational dust, chemicals and frequent lower respiratory tract infection in childhood were also major reasons of chest diseases.

Dr Arshad said that chest diseases were not restricted to men only but women belonging to developed world were also suffering from those ailments owing to growing tendency of smoking among them.

The PCS president said that physicians and common people should play their role to increase awareness regarding preventive measures for the disease. He said that government, provincial health department along with world health organisations, environmental protection agencies were taking measures to fight against chest diseases.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2017