Early Career Scientists Call for Strategic Change in the Fight Against Respiratory Diseases

Respiratory diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide — yet their societal awareness remains alarmingly low. In a recent commentary published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, DZL scientists Dr. Mustafa Abdo (DZL site TLRC) and Dr. Hendrik Pott (DZL site UGMLC), together with international colleagues, call for a rethink in global health communication and research policy.

COPD was already the third leading cause of death worldwide in 2019, and projections estimate that around 590 million people will be affected by 2050. Other respiratory conditions such as severe asthma, lung cancer, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis also pose major medical challenges — with high costs for healthcare systems and society. At the same time, socioeconomically disadvantaged populations are disproportionately affected, due to factors like air pollution, working conditions, and limited access to medical care.

Despite these alarming figures, the importance of lung diseases is not reflected in research funding or public discourse. The authors highlight that publication rates on respiratory diseases have been declining for decades compared to other major diseases. Research funding is also significantly lower compared to other non-communicable diseases, creating a growing gap between disease burden and scientific progress.

A key reason, according to the researchers, is the lack of public awareness around lung health. In international health surveys, respiratory diseases consistently rank far behind cancer, diabetes, or cardiovascular diseases. Meanwhile, national strategies to promote lung health — comparable to oncology programs — are absent in many countries.

The commentary outlines paths to overcome this backlog:

• First, better communication of lung health by medical professionals is needed — beyond traditional channels, including social media, storytelling, and health journalism.
• Second, national lung health strategies are necessary to systematically support research, prevention, and care.
• Third, the group stresses the importance of patient-driven advocacy, as seen in other fields such as cystic fibrosis in the USA, which has helped improve research and care standards.

The researchers advocate for a change in perspective: lung diseases should no longer be seen as personal failure or solely a consequence of smoking. Instead, the complexity of causes — including environmental factors and structural inequalities — must be put center stage. The lungs need greater symbolic and political visibility, comparable to the heart’s prominent status in cardiology.

The full commentary was published on July 17, 2025, in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.