Britain and Ireland top EU lung death table

08 September 2013

A new publication from the European Respiratory Society (ERS) has revealed that lung conditions are now responsible for one in ten of all deaths in Europe, at a cost of 390 billion euro per year.

The figures, which were released as the ERS annual congress kicked off in Barcelona, and published in the European Lung White Book, reveal that each year in the 28 countries of the European Union, lung diseases cause two thirds of a million deaths, and at least six million hospital admissions, accounting for over 43 million in-patient bed-days. 
 
Belgium and Denmark have the highest mortality from respiratory diseases, with 117 deaths per 100,000 population followed by Ireland (114) and the UK (112). The proportion of total deaths attributed to a lung condition is, however, highest in the UK and Ireland.

The White Book also shows that, while tobacco smoking rates in these high-death
rate countries such as Denmark and the UK, have fallen substantially since the 1970s, the long-term effects from years gone by continue to manifest in cases of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

By contrast, Finland, 'with its highly active programme targeting respiratory illness', has the lowest death rate (54 per 100,000), with Sweden (56) and Cyprus (57) following close behind. 

In terms of financial cost, the total average health and societal cost per case of lung cancer is 364,213 euro, while for tuberculosis it is 86,217 euro. Conversely, the costs of COPD, at 6,147 euro per case per year, and asthma, at 7,443 euro per year, accrue over many years, and,
according to the White Book, 'represent an even greater socioeconomic burden because they are so common'.