Advocacy

Our vision: Breathing and feeling well through universal access to right care

That is, we advocate for a priority to respiratory health, as indicated by the latest Global Burden of Disease figures in all ages and all resource settings (breathing and feeling well); we advocate for the importance of primary care globally to improve access to care (universal access) and advocate for investment in primary care to have the capability to deliver good respiratory outcomes (right care).

We have agreed this roadmap with WONCA, where we

Call on governments & payors to build trust in primary care and invest in

1 Diagnosis in primary care: 

Invest in primary care staff, equipment and time so that it can provide a timely, accurate and objective diagnosis 
of chronic respiratory diseases

 

2 Management in primary care:

Invest in primary care to manage chronic respiratory disease, tobacco dependence and exposure to indoor air pollution applying ‘right care’ principles that include understanding what’s right for the individual patient in their local context and removing administrative barriers (e.g. enable right to prescribe respiratory treatments in primary care)

 

3 Training and education for primary care by primary care:

Prioritise practical peer-led training and education for primary care by primary care

 

4 Integrated care systems:

Support the development of integrated care systems for respiratory health, involving patients, their families,
multi-disciplinary health and social care and secondary care services for those with more complex needs

 

5 Generation of real-life evidence:

Fund the generation of real-life evidence to feed guidelines that are useful in primary care
(e.g. implementation research)

 

6 Primary care as population educators, raising awareness:

Endorse primary care as population health educators eg about cough, phlegm, breathlessness, how we breathe

 

7 Right incentives for primary care to practise population respiratory health:

Negotiate and fund the right incentives for primary care to practise population respiratory heath: to go where
the people in need are

 

8 Universal access to treatment and training:

Fund universal access to good quality affordable and effective treatments and the training to use them right

 

9 Primary care societies leveraging change:

Endorse primary care societies like IPCRG that can leverage major clinician-led change working locally, collaborating globally