Developing effective services for people with COPD

In terms of health care resources, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has long been the poor relation of other respiratory conditions such as asthma and lung cancer. However, over the last 10 years health professionals have recognised the importance of COPD and its cost to society and have been motivated to provide an improved service for patients. The first guidelines for the management of COPD were published by the British Thoracic Society in 1997. The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease followed this document with its Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management and Prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (2001).