As part of the project, lung function testing stations will be established free of charge all over the country under the auspices of the Israeli Association for Pulmonary Medicine, during the year 2009.* The project is courtesy of GlaxoSmithKline under the title "Israel Strives to Breathe"
Under the title "Israel Strives to Breathe", on Monday 30.3.2009 the Breathing Association announced a national social project for the early diagnosis of COPD, a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which will be conducted courtesy of the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Israel.
On the occasion of the announcement of the project, the Nesham Association set up the project's first testing booth, on Allenby Street at the corner of Nachalat Binyamin in Tel Aviv and launched it with a ceremonial ribbon cutting with the participation of Yael Dayan, a member of the Tel Aviv - Jaffa City Council who joined volunteer activities on the association's board. Dayan said that she is dealing with a lung disease herself and therefore agreed to be hired for a public activity in the association and emphasized that: "I smoked and smoked for years and today I am paying the price. At a certain moment I stopped smoking and today I know the extent of the damage and I ask the public to be aware that we have two lungs that need to be healthy, so let's together take care of our lungs. Today we are launching the project and campaign of the Breathing Association with the aim of calling on the public to be tested free of charge in order to have a warning sign.
Ayelet HaShahar - Wolff, CEO of Lanshum Association, stated at the launch of the national project that: "We initiated the project with the aim of increasing awareness of the disease and conducting a free lung function test for the interested public. It is important to know that in Israel thousands of COPD patients die every year and unfortunately most of them are undiagnosed and are completely unaware of their disease. Early detection of COPD is extremely important in order to prevent irreversible deterioration of the disease. Moreover, the early detection and medical intervention contributes to improving the patient's quality of life and extends life expectancy."
In the continuation of the annual project, information booths and inspection stations will be set up free of charge in other cities in Israel, including Sderot, Beer Sheva, Ashdod, Rishon Lezion, Ramla, Jerusalem, Nazareth, Umm El Fahm, Afula, Haifa and Kiryat Shmona.
In the ceremony announcing the project and launching the first test stand, the jazz ensemble of the Thelma Yelin School, which includes Micah Gilad and Rom, two XNUMXth grade students, participated. The annual project will take place courtesy of the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline, (GSK) the manufacturer of the Sertide treatment, which is approved for use in Israel among COPD and asthma patients. To watch a video clip from the announcement ceremony, click here and wait for the video to upload.
About the COPD disease
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) is a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that causes about 3 million deaths worldwide each year and is on a constant rise. According to worldwide estimates by 2020, COPD will be the third leading cause of death and among the leading diseases in the world. COPD is defined as a multi-systemic disease that affects the functions of the lungs when, along with breathing difficulties, other symptoms appear such as a strong cough with sputum, increased fatigue, shortness of breath mainly with exertion, wheezing (whistling sound or wheezing while breathing), chest pressure and more. The main reason for the development of COPD is current or past smoking. In Israel, about 3,000 COPD patients die every year. According to the data of a sample study recently conducted by Dr. David Stav from the Assaf Harofeh Medical Center and Dr. Meir Raz from Maccabi Health Services, it was found that one in five smokers over the age of 45 develops COPD. In addition, the study found that approx. 80% of COPD patients are undiagnosed and completely unaware of their disease. More information about the disease can be found atThe website of the Breathe Association.
Extensive research
And in the process it was learned that a comprehensive and long-term study, recently conducted in 42 countries around the world, determined for the first time that drug treatment among COPD patients significantly slows down the progression of the disease and shows a trend in reducing mortality from COPD. This is the first study that has demonstrated that there is a positive effect of any drug treatment on the progression of COPD, and so far no drug has been found that can slow down the deterioration of lung functions. This is a drug called Sertide, which is approved for use in Israel among COPD and asthma patients.
The study included about 6,000 patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The group of patients who were treated with Seratide showed a significant slowdown in the rate of decline in pulmonary function and a slowdown in the deterioration of the COPD disease compared to the control group. As mentioned, this is the first study of its kind that presented a significant effect of drug treatment on the decrease in pulmonary function and the deterioration of pulmonary disease, which causes over 3 million deaths worldwide each year. During the study, the patients were examined every 24 weeks for three years of follow-up. The effect of drug treatment with steroids and its components on reducing mortality from the disease, in moderate and severe COPD patients, was examined. In addition to the trend of reducing mortality, the study presented a significant decrease in the number of exacerbations, attacks that require treatment with oral steroids or antibiotics and a significant improvement in the quality of life of the patients. The important results of the study showed that steroid treatment reduces by more than 50% the decrease in lung function caused by COPD, that is, it shows a significant slowdown in the deterioration of the disease.
The patients who took Sertide showed a reduction in lung function decline compared to the control group. The results of the study, which is a milestone in the medical treatment of COPD all over the world, were published in an issue of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The drug, called Sertide, is marketed in Israel by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and is approved for use by the Ministry of Health. The drug is included in the health basket for the treatment of COPD and asthma patients and is offered in all health funds at prices ranging from 32 to 69 shekels, depending on the different doses. The drug has a dual action, expanding the synapses and treating the inflammatory symptoms of the disease. Sertide enables patients to significantly improve their quality of life, reduce exacerbations and hospitalizations, and from now on, following the research, it turns out that it also contributes to slowing the progression of the disease.
Press release delivered by the communication consultant of Glaxo Smith Klein
5 תגובות
When are the tests again?
It says in the title about help in diagnosing the disease [I have serious breathing difficulties] How can I help with the diagnosis of COPD vhfi Where are breathing exercises held Who can I consult on the association's website Thank you
Totally in our favor.
It is true that our society is held by money and capitalism has its drawbacks that come from both the system and human nature.
But what will happen if we block all pharmaceutical companies? People will get sick and die...
So in the meantime it's better to use this system (the distillery) for the company and improve it until it becomes better (or find something else better just please without Lenins)
Eran,
What you said is true. But as cold and capitalistic as this fact may seem - would you prefer the pharmaceutical companies not to invest in early diagnosis?
For a change, the pharmaceutical company's policy (mainly in the interest of profit) works in our favor. Obviously they will then try to extort as much money as possible from us for the drugs. But do you think that the thousands and millions of those who are saved from various diseases by early diagnosis would give it up?
The sophisticated marketing of the drug company - first they create awareness of the disease and then a market for the drugs is created. Similar to what we saw at the time with the drugs for cervical cancer.