Advocacy for respiratory research has not been successful in communicating the urgency or scale of the problem, respiratory experts say. 

In a letter published in the Lancet Respiratory Medicine members of the Global Health Respiratory Network say that despite the enormous global burden of respiratory diseases, funding for research into respiratory diseases are low on the list of priorities according to the latest WHO research expenditure figures.

Respiratory disease was 13th in the non-communicable disease category list with just 2% of the total number of grants. 

And when listed according to disease: tuberculosis lies 19th, asthma is 27th, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is in 50th place, they noted. 

“There has been a substantial mismatch between burden and research investment, which has not improved in over a decade….our analysis suggests that advocacy for respiratory research has not been successful in communicating the urgency or scale of the problem, or the potential impact of research investment,” they wrote. 

According to the authors there is an urgent need for the respiratory research community to work more effectively with other stakeholders to increase recognition of respiratory disease. 

They also call on funders to review and publish their investment in research on respiratory health. 

“We also ask funders to work synergistically to build up current activity and to develop and share a research roadmap which would minimise the risk of duplication and maximise the effect on health, wellbeing, and economic growth,” they added.