Addressing the burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Sanofi

5 min read14 March Partner content

General Manager at Sanofi UK and Ireland, Rippon Ubhi, and Jim Shannon MP discuss the burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on patients and the NHS, and the healthcare professional and patient advocate-led ideas for how this could be alleviated.

This article was funded by Sanofi and Regeneron and reviewed for compliance with the ABPI Code of Practice. Jim Shannon MP contributed to this article and retained full editorial control.

Urgent action is needed to address the significant impact of COPD on patients and the NHS

Rippon Ubhi, General Manager, Sanofi UK and Ireland

Rippon Ubhi, Sanofi UK and Ireland — Rippon Ubhi, General Manager,
Sanofi UK and Ireland

COPD is a progressive lung disease affecting around 1.4 million people in the UK – with a disproportionate impact on people from deprived communities, causing respiratory health inequalities.^1,2Despite its prevalence and being the fifth leading cause of death, it is overlooked by policymakers and stigmatised in society.³

COPD is caused by airflow obstruction, which leads to debilitating symptoms such as breathlessness, frequent lung infections and reduced energy.⁴ These symptoms impose a substantial burden on patients and make everyday tasks like getting dressed, climbing stairs, or even just breathing feel like significant challenges.

As well as potentially experiencing daily symptoms, people with COPD are at risk of “exacerbations” or “flare-ups”. These vary in severity but are a worsening of the usual symptoms patients face. They can be short or last for weeks. Not only are they distressing or life-threatening in the moment, but in the longer term they can lead to a further decline in lung function in already-ill patients.⁵

COPD exacerbations are also the second most common cause of emergency hospital admissions, accounting for one in eight.⁶As a potentially life-threatening episode which could in some cases be prevented through better management of a patient, there is a lot to be gained from policy and clinical measures to improve patient management.

Delving into these opportunities to improve outcomes for COPD patients is a report Sanofi launched in November 2024: Breathe Equal: Policy recommendations to reduce the burden of COPD. To build on this, we recently convened expert clinical, patient group and policy stakeholders in Parliament to discuss these opportunities further, with a particular focus on actions which could address the health inequalities linked to the disease.

What became clear at our roundtable is that COPD could be the perfect test case for the government’s key healthcare ambition to bring healthcare from hospitals to the community. Community settings have a vital role to play in diagnosing and managing COPD, especially by identifying cases in marginalised groups who may be less engaged in their healthcare. In addition, services that are closer to home should be empowered to manage patients, with support from specialist centres that may be further away.

Increased focus on addressing COPD’s profound burden through policy and clinical practice reform could support the NHS and government to make significant strides in improving population health and alleviating NHS services.

Improving the management of COPD patients

Jim Shannon MP, Chair of the Respiratory Health All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG)

Unfortunately, COPD is another addition to the long list of conditions which disproportionately affect deprived communities: the most socially deprived 20 per cent of the population are 2.5 times more likely to have COPD than the least deprived groups.² When we consider that the key diagnostic tool for COPD, spirometry, is less likely to be available in GP surgeries in more deprived areas, this reality becomes more concerning.⁷

I was therefore delighted to host a roundtable in February with healthcare experts and patient representatives to understand what priority actions could be taken by the government, national NHS leadership and local healthcare systems to address the disproportionate impact of this highly burdensome disease.

Within the three key stages of the patient journey – diagnosis, management and access to specialist care – the group we brought together identified priority actions. For example, the group agreed that geographically consistent funding and quality of key interventions like exercise and smoking cessation were key to ensuring high-quality care, no matter where a patient lives. The role of community healthcare settings in delivering this was heard loud and clear – with experts calling for the government to ensure sufficient resourcing as part of its push to deliver more care in the community.

The group also discussed the preference of COPD patients to be managed closer to home, such as by local hospitals or primary care, rather than a specialist team which could be hundreds of miles away for some patients. While specialist care teams remain critical to overseeing management, delegated responsibilities could reduce the burden of travel on ill patients and support better outcomes.

Many more tangible and pragmatic recommendations were put forward by the group, building on the Breathe Equal report. In my role as Chair of the APPG on Respiratory Health, I look forward to continuing to advocate for improved management of COPD patients. The policy recommendations identified by those managing patients daily, and the advocates representing their best interests, should be recognised and implemented as a priority.

To learn more about COPD, please visit: https://rb.gy/j4b795

This article was fully funded, initiated and written by Sanofi and Regeneron.

MAT-XU-2500814 (v1.0) March 2025

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