Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to raise public awareness of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Public Health England has developed a campaign to raise awareness of the symptom of breathlessness which ran as a local pilot in Oldham and Rochdale from 24 February – 23 March 2014 and as a regional pilot in the East of England 2 February – 1 March 2015.

The Breathlessness campaign aims to encourage those with inappropriate breathlessness (breathlessness that is disproportionate to the level of activity undertaken i.e. at rest or on minimal exertion) to go and see their general practitioner (GP). It is primarily aimed at earlier diagnosis of heart and lung disease, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with scope to reduce premature mortality and to improve the quality of life of those living with these conditions. The key message of the campaign is “If you get out of breath doing things that you used to be able to do, see your GP. Getting out of breath could be a sign of heart or lung disease. Finding it early makes it more treatable, so don’t ignore it, tell your doctor”.

Evaluation of the regional pilot is still underway, although early findings from follow-up in-depth interviews with a sample of local GPs and pharmacists and pre and post awareness tracking research among the public, are positive.