Respiratory conditions include acute respiratory infections as well as chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer. Multiple determinants contribute to this burden.
Active and passing tobacco smoking are the main risk factors for these diseases. Other risk factors include heavy exposure to air pollution (from indoor and outdoor sources), occupation-related disorders, malnutrition and low birth weight, and multiple lung infections. Socioeconomic factors play an important role in increasing the prevalence and severity of disease through environmental determinants, and can be related to lack of access to appropriate care.
For further information about respiratory diseases see some reference websites at the bottom of this page.
ENHIS information
The indicators below describe pressure, exposure, health effects and action for the disease under scrutiny, with indicators of health effects presented at the top. Indicator-based assessments cover all countries in the WHO European Region and provide information on the environment and health context, the policy relevance and context, as well as suggestions for further monitoring. When available, case studies of health impact assessment (HIA) are also presented.
These indicators contribute to monitoring the health effects of environmental exposures towards the achievement of four priorities goals for the pan-European Region (so called regional priority goals, RPGs) set by the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in 2004, and on which the 53 Member States of WHO/Europe have committed to take action.
For the definition and other details about each indicator, please read the metadata section within the assessment and read the information on indicator methodology.
References
The following WHO and EU websites offer further information about respiratory diseases.
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Environmental Health indicators quantify information on population exposure, related health effects and specific policy actions. The ways environmental factors affect health and quality of life are analysed using data sets of primarily international available data and scientific evidence.
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Data used for the preparation of charts included in the assessment (fact sheet), in .xls format.
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Data for the indicator available in the ENHIS database.
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