Oral

The purpose of this session is to heighten the awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) issues, especially in light of the APHA Meeting's theme, "Think Global, Act Local." Although COPD has been among the leading causes of death in the last decade, very little population-based data have been available, along with an under-recognition of this deadly chronic disease. The session will begin with a global perspective on the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and a local perspective on the third leading cause of death in the U.S. This will be followed by two presentations about racial and health-related quality of life issues associated with COPD in the U.S. based on recent data collected nationally, including NC and SC. The fourth presentation focuses on how data impacts COPD policy change and issues. We conclude the session with a panel discussion and an interactive forum with the audience. We aim to engage the public health community, including private/public, national and local organizations, to come together and collaboratively address COPD as a major public health issue.

Session Objectives: Describe the magnitude and impact of COPD as a public health issue List three demographic and quality of life characteristics among persons with COPD Discuss uses of COPD data to support and drive policy