6 December 2009 | Cancun, Mexico - The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), convening at the 40th anniversary International Union Against TB and Lung Disease World Conference in Cancun, Mexico, today unanimously declared that 2010 will be the Year of the Lung.
The 2010: The Year of the Lung will be an intensive global 12 month campaign spearheaded by seven major respiratory societies and aimed at galvanizing health officials and civil society behind one common purpose: to express the urgency for increased awareness and action to promote lung health to all levels of society.
The campaign seeks to drive partner organizations to:
- Offer widespread support to the more than 160 nations that have ratified the first-ever international public health treaty – the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control – and call upon the remaining countries to do so;
- Demand increased research funding to develop tools and treatments ranging from new diagnostics to new vaccines and medicines from their governments;
- Strengthen health systems and work towards the fair and equitable distribution of these health care resources to all who need them;
- Lobby for improved legislation protecting the quality of the air we all breathe;
- Ensure that every health worker, parent, child, teacher, employer, religious leader, community leader, media representative and government official understands the risks and symptoms of lung diseases and how to keep lungs healthy, because lung health is essential to breath and life.