Breathe Well is the NIHR Global Health Research Group on Global COPD in Primary Care at University of Birmingham.
Our aim is to foster research in primary care and the community to improve the diagnosis, management and prognosis of COPD patients in low and middle income countries.
Currently 90% of COPD deaths occur in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). The Birmingham research team, with a track record in high quality research on screening, the early identification and management of COPD in UK primary care, working with primary care respiratory research teams in Brazil, China, Republic of North Macedonia and Georgia, and through collaboration with the IPCRG, have formed the Breathe Well team. The team aims to co-develop the capability, networks and platform to deliver targeted and effective research and healthcare outcomes for people with COPD in LMIC.
Together we aim to:
• Develop and consolidate a sustainable collaboration and shared vision
• Strengthen local research capacity in the partner countries in community-based COPD research and generic population research methods
• Co-create a local plan for evaluating approaches for identifying undiagnosed COPD in the community, adapted to cultural needs and local healthcare infrastructure
• To adapt evidence-based behavioural approaches for management of COPD according to cultural needs and the local healthcare infrastructure and assess the feasibility of their implementation
• To build a robust platform for future collaborative research with the partner countries and other similar settings