Health promotion for non-communicable diseases: respiratory diseases

Introduction

This is the third article in a series covering health promotion for non-communicable diseases, looking at:

This article focuses on chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and occupational lung conditions. Risk factors for chronic respiratory diseases include: 

• air pollution
• allergens
• tobacco smoking
• exposure to second-hand smoke (World Health Organization, 2024a)

There are also more complex issues associated with respiratory diseases that are linked to lifestyle behaviours and poverty. Health outcomes for people with chronic respiratory disease have seen little improvement in the last 10 years, particularly when compared to cardiovascular disease and cancer (Public Health England, 2022).

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease caused by airway inflammation and hyper-responsiveness. Asthma affects more than 300 million people across the world, 8 million (12%) of which are in the UK (National Institute of Health and Care Excellence,