On World Lung Day, 25 September 2025, the Global Allergy & Airways Patient Platform (GAAPP) calls attention to the urgent need for action on lung health, highlighting the key educational and awareness messages from the latest WHO World Report on Social Determinants of Health Equity.
The WHO World Report on Social Determinants of Health Equity highlights:
- Health inequities are largely driven by social and structural factors, not just individual choices. Poverty, education, housing, employment, and environmental conditions remain the strongest predictors of health outcomes.
- People in low- and middle-income countries live, on average, 16 years less than those in high-income countries, with lung health inequalities being a major contributor.
- Climate change and air pollution are now among the leading global health threats, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations, including children, older adults, and people with chronic respiratory diseases.
- The report calls for urgent cross-sectoral action, urging governments to integrate health equity into all policies—transport, housing, energy, labor, and environment—because medical care alone cannot close the equity gap.
Read the full WHO report.
