Skip to main content
Loading…

Chamber and committees

World COPD Day 2025

  • Submitted by: Marie McNair, Clydebank and Milngavie, Scottish National Party.
  • Date lodged: Tuesday, 11 November 2025
  • Motion type: Standard Motion
  • Motion reference: S6M-19641

That the Parliament recognises that 19 November is World Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Day, which is an annual awareness raising day held on the third Wednesday in November; notes that an estimated 240,000 people are living with a COPD diagnosis in Scotland, with thousands more reported to be undiagnosed; further notes that each year around 3,000 people die as a result of COPD; recognises that the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) organises the annual event and sets the theme, which this year is Short of Breath, Think COPD, due to the lack of correct diagnoses for COPD and the fact that COPD is the third leading cause of death worldwide; welcomes efforts by charities, including  Asthma + Lung UK Scotland, to raise awareness of COPD symptoms, which include shortness of breath, a persistent chesty cough with phlegm, frequent chest infections and persistent wheezing; believes that COPD care in Scotland is below what should be expected, with the Life with a Lung Condition survey by Asthma + Lung UK Scotland showing that only 7.8% of people with COPD report receiving all five fundamentals of COPD care, and notes that the five fundamentals of COPD care are smoking cessation advice, flu and pneumococcal vaccines, access to pulmonary rehabilitation, co-development of a self-management plan and treatment for co-morbidities, and that these five fundamentals can help reduce hospitalisations that can be costly for the patient and the NHS.


Supported by: Karen Adam, Clare Adamson, Jackie Baillie, Jeremy Balfour, Colin Beattie, Miles Briggs, Jackie Dunbar, Annabelle Ewing, Joe FitzPatrick, Kenneth Gibson, Dr Pam Gosal MBE, Emma Harper, Jamie Hepburn, Bill Kidd, Monica Lennon, Fulton MacGregor, Ruth Maguire, John Mason, Liam McArthur, Paul McLennan, Stuart McMillan, Kevin Stewart, Paul Sweeney, David Torrance, Mercedes Villalba, Tess White, Brian Whittle, Beatrice Wishart