Addressing the global challenges of COPD and asthma: a shared vision from the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (GOLD) and the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA)

Extract The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) and Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) have produced strategy reports and recommendations about diagnosis and management for these two commonest lung diseases every year for the last 25 years. Approximately 650 million children and adults have Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or asthma, and their prevalence is forecast to more than double by 2050. In 2021 over 4 million people died from these diseases [1, 2] and COPD currently is the third commonest cause of death worldwide. Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children under 15 [3] and 1 in 3 children with asthma miss days from school [4]. The health and economic costs caused by COPD and asthma are high and rising. For example, the global direct costs from COPD in 2025 were estimated to be $3.89 trillion and are projected to rise to $24.35 trillion by 2050 [5].