Lille, France – On the occasion of Congress of French-language pneumology (CPLF), held in Lille this year, the Pre Chantal Raherison-Semjen (pulmonologist, Pointe-à-Pitre University Hospital), president of the Société de Pneumologie de Langue Française, revealed a project close to her heart: to challenge each of the candidates for the 2022 presidential election in order to “ensure that respiratory health is a priority for the next five years. »[1].
Proposals for a five-year program, “Breathing: a fundamental right!” », were developed during the first States General of Respiratory Health, organized last December by the French-speaking Pneumology Society and a group of 24 organizations of users and health professionals. A strong request will be made to the candidates: that a National Conference on Environmental and Respiratory Health be organised, within the first hundred days of the presidential term, with a view to preparing a framework bill.
The French facing respiratory health: the opinion survey
After the creation of the collective at the beginning of the summer of 2021, “the first stage of our work was to carry out an inventory thanks to a study (Ipsos / SPLF)”, indicates Chantal Raherison-Semjen. If the results of this survey carried out with a sample of 1012 people representative of the French population from July 6 to 7, 2021 have not yet been published, the pulmonologist has revealed the main results.
First, according to this survey, half of the population encounters recurring respiratory problems (52%). But most go undiagnosed. “The majority of French people do not know that there are symptoms (shortness of breath, cough, snoring) which should lead them to consult”, explains Pre Raherison-Semjen who deplores that “two thirds of those who have severe daily symptoms do not never talked to a doctor about it.
Why ? Probably out of ignorance. The survey reveals that the majority of respondents feel poorly informed about the warning symptoms of a risk of respiratory disease (54%), about the medical examinations to be carried out to diagnose respiratory diseases (58%) and about the different types of respiratory diseases that exist (60%). As a result, ignorance is a barrier to consultation: the duration between the first symptoms and the diagnosis of a respiratory disease is 10 months on average, revealed the Ipsos study.
“This result confirms the clinical impression we have, namely that patients arrive late and the diagnosis is often made too late,” she comments.
Candidates facing respiratory health
The various concrete proposals were established from the 450 contributions collected during an online citizen consultation between September 6 and October 22, 2021. “They were presented duringa feedback meeting at the beginning of December”, indicates Pre Chantal Raherison-Semjen who hopes that the collective organization will make them more audible.
The ten proposals drawn up by the States General working group have been grouped into three pillars: preventing and combating environmental factors, managing respiratory diseases throughout life, and combating social and health exclusion in the whole territory.
Pillar 1: prevent and fight against the environmental factors of respiratory diseases
Proposal n°1: Organize, within the first 100 days of office, a National Conference on Environmental and Respiratory Health, the objective of which will be to prepare a draft framework law in order to formalize the Government’s commitment on the subject.
Proposal n°2: Communicate and inform to increase visibility and knowledge of respiratory diseases by developing media communication on all the diseases concerned (COPD, rare lung diseases, cancers, asthma and allergies), in the direction general public and health professionals).
Proposal n°3: Reinforce the dissemination of targeted messages on environmental risk factors in terms of respiratory health to the general public and health professionals.
Proposal n°4: Ensuring the reimbursement of adapted physical activity on prescription by Health Insurance, expanding the list of respiratory diseases concerned and strengthening communication around this issue.
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Pillar 2: manage respiratory diseases effectively throughout life
Proposal n°5: Ensure regular breath screening throughout life.
Proposal n°6: Build care pathways for each respiratory disease, including covid-19, by integrating the healthcare professionals and patient representatives concerned into the discussions.
Proposal n°7: Make research on respiratory diseases and access to innovative therapies a national and European priority in terms of funding.
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Territory pillar: fight against social and health exclusion throughout the territory
Proposal n°8: Guarantee the recognition of respiratory disabilities and access to rights and benefits adapted to respiratory diseases.
Proposal n°9: Develop a support strategy targeting respiratory health to support vulnerable populations in their daily lives.
Proposal n°10: Support the inclusion of respiratory patients in schools and in professional life.
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