Make Your Voice Heard Ahead of the Local and European Elections 2014 COPD Support Ireland encourage you to raise issues of concern for people living with COPD and their families with local and EU election canvassers in the run up to the local and European elections on May 23. You can also send this leaflet directly to your local candidates and ask them to respond and commit to supporting better services in your area for people living with COPD. What is COPD? COPD is a collective name for lung conditions that make it hard for sufferers to breathe due to obstruction in the air passages of their lungs. Chronic means won’t go away Obstructive means partly blocked Pulmonary means in the lungs Disease means sickness The disease gets worse over time and has a major impact on the lives of patients and their families. It is estimated that there are over 440,000 people with COPD in Ireland, yet despite this high prevalence many people don’t understand the disease and don’t know that it can be managed and treated effectively, especially if it is caught early. Local Election Issues Key Issues include: • Access to pulmonary rehabilitation programme in the community (a vital service for people with COPD). Hospital budgets need to include finance for an ongoing programme. • The local hospital provides an Outreach Programme which will reduce the number of days in hospital • Affordable community spaces for your local COPD Support Group to meet • Faster responses to housing adaptations when required • Smoke free zones in public spaces such as parks and hospitals • Smokey fuel ban with appropriate support to replace heating systems Key issues to be raised by councillors and MEPs nationally include: • COPD to be included on the National Long Term Illness list. • Medical cards to be provided for COPD sufferers. • Employment restrictions to be lifted to allow hospitals to recruit staff for Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programmes and COPD Outreach Programmes • For those living with oxygen an allowance to support the electrical costs for running the oxygen (on average €45 a month extra) European Election Issues COPD Support Ireland is asking EU candidates to develop the EU framework by 2017 to allow the EU to make a significant impact in reaching the United Nations goal of a 25 percent reduction in premature mortality from chronic diseases by 2025.
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 12:00:17 +0000
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