On March 19, 2018, experts in rural health and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD patient advocates, and other key stakeholders gathered in the Nacher Conference Center at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD for COPD & Rural Health: A Dialogue on the National Action Plan. According to the NIH’s National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute, sponsor of the summit, “COPD is a leading cause of death in the United States, with more than 150,000 deaths annually. Nationwide millions are affected by the disease, which imposes an enormous burden on individuals with COPD, their caregivers, and the nation’s health care system, especially in rural communities”.
The purpose of this one-day summit was to “further the dialogue on how to address the goals and objectives of the COPD National Action Plan from a rural perspective and move toward its implementation by identifying challenges, opportunities, and resources; exploring solutions; sharing best practices; and fostering collaboration”.
The COPD National Action Plan is a first-of-its-kind blueprint for a multi-disciplinary and unified approach to combat the siginificant that COPD places on individuals, their caregivers, and society as a whole.
You can view the summit in its entirety here: COPD & Rural Health: A Dialogue on the National Action Plan