Respiratory health included in key European policy developments

12 October 2026

The European Parliament has adopted a report recognising the close link between heart and lung health, and the European Commission has published a proposal recommending that lung function tests be included in routine heart health checks across the European Union (EU).

The Parliament report, adopted in September 2026, was produced in response to the European Commission’s Safe Hearts Plan, which is the EU’s first major strategy on heart health. It puts a specific spotlight on COPD and obstructive sleep apnoea, and calls for greater prevention of long-term conditions, earlier detection, and joined-up approaches across disease areas. Its inclusion is the result of sustained advocacy by the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and European Lung Foundation (ELF).

The Commission has also published a Council Recommendation that sets out in detail how respiratory assessment should be integrated into heart health checks across all age groups:

for adults under 35 presenting with shortness of breath;
as a routine element of checks for those aged 35 to 64;
and as cardiopulmonary assessment for those aged 65 and over.

The recommendations cite the joint ERS and ELF statement, “Safe hearts require safe lungs.”

For national coalitions of clinicians, researchers and patient advocates supported by the International Respiratory Coalition, these developments are an opportunity to engage policymakers on respiratory health as the commitments are translated into policy. Lung Facts, which covers the burden, mortality and societal economic cost of 14 respiratory diseases in 21 countries across the WHO European region, provides the evidence base to support those conversations.

Anita Simonds, Chair of the International Respiratory Coalition, said: “These are significant milestones for everyone working to put respiratory health on the policy map in Europe. When the European Union recognises that lung and heart health are inexorably linked, and includes lung health in its core policy proposals, it strengthens the hand of every national coalition making that same case in their countries. The task now is to ensure these commitments translate into real action, and that is what IRC coalitions are working towards.”