Lung Health

Lord Kakkar Excerpts

Monday 1st July 2019 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

The right reverend Prelate raises an extremely important point on air health. While we have long-term commitments in the clean air strategy, and the other measures that have been put forward in the Green Paper and net-zero commitments, NICE has published guidance on the effect of air pollution on people with chronic respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. We also have the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants, which advises the Government on many matters, including those the right reverend Prelate raised.

[Lord Kakkar (CB)]

My Lords, I remind noble Lords of my registered interests. Are Her Majesty’s Government satisfied that the research strategy between UKRI and the National Institute for Health Research is sufficiently well co-ordinated to ensure discovery, as well as early evaluation and adoption, of novel therapies that could manage chronic lung disease more effectively?

[Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford]

The noble Lord has raised a crucial point, which is not a surprise given his expertise in this area. We have been working with him and others to ensure that the most innovative medicines are getting to patients as quickly as possible. We announced the Accelerated Access Collaborative to identify those innovative medicines and ensure that we speed up the rate of ideation to uptake in the NHS, particularly for illnesses such as asthma. For example, smart inhalers and integrated connected devices could dramatically improve the management of that condition.