# 5040
The WLF (World Lung Foundation) states their mission as:
To improve the lives of individuals across the world by strengthening community capacity to prevent and manage lung disease.
Today we’ve a press release announcing their Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas, along with their research that claims that more than 4 million lives are lost each year due to lung infections.
Four Million Deaths Each Year Caused by Acute Respiratory Infections – New Atlas Details Pandemic
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
(New York, NY) -Acute respiratory infections (ARIs), a disease group that includes pneumonia, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), are responsible for 4.25 million deaths each year, according to the first-ever Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas (ARIAtlas.org), published today by World Lung Foundation. ARIs are the third largest cause of mortality in the world and the top killer in low- and middle-income countries. Compared to the illness and mortality they cause, ARIs receive a fraction of government, donor agency, and philanthropic support.
"We know that at least four million people die from ARIs, yet the global health community does not even recognize them as a distinct disease group,” said Peter Baldini, Chief Executive Officer, World Lung Foundation. “The goal of the Acute Respiratory Infections Atlas is to demonstrate in vivid detail the scale of this problem and to kick-start a serious conversation about addressing it. With relatively modest resources, the means are available to save millions of lives. We simply need commitment, sound policy, and strategic investment."
A Forgotten Pandemic
Collectively, ARIs cause at least 6% of the world’s disability and death, according to the Atlas. These deaths occur overwhelmingly in the world’s poorest countries, where the drivers of ARIs, including malnutrition, pollution, overcrowding, and tobacco use are most prevalent. In countries such as Mali, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, and Niger, the death rate from ARIs alone is ten times higher than the global median death rate from all causes.
The WLF has also released a short video introduction on Youtube.
Of particular interest to myself, and hopefully to some of my readers, are the resources available on the WLF website, including an image and video library, campaign resources, along with interactive maps available from the www.ariatlas.org site.
I’ve only just begun to explore some of these resources, but they look very promising.
Sample map
Since I’m running late for an appointment, I’ll send you to a Reuters story, which has more on today’s report.
