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Global Strategy for Diagnosis, Management, and Prevention of COPD

December 2011

Please reference this document as follows:
From the Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management and Prevention of COPD, Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) 2011. Available from: http://www.goldcopd.org/.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) remains
a major public health problem. In 2020, COPD is projected
to rank fifth worldwide in burden of disease, according
to a study published by the World Bank/World Health
Organization. Although COPD has received increasing
attention from the medical community in recent years, it is
still relatively unknown or ignored by the public as well as
public health and government officials.

In 1998, in an effort to bring more attention to the
management and prevention of COPD, a committed
group of scientists formed the Global Initiative for Chronic
Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD). Among the important
objectives of GOLD are to increase awareness of COPD
and to help the millions of people who suffer from this
disease and die prematurely from it or its complications.
In 2001, the GOLD program released a consensus report,
Global Strategy for the Diagnosis, Management, and
Prevention of COPD; this document was revised in 2006.

This 2011 revision follows the same format as the 2001 and
2006 reports, but reflects the many publications on COPD
that have appeared since 2006.
Based on multiple scientific and clinical achievements in
the ten years since the 2001 GOLD report was published,
this revised edition provides a new paradigm for treatment
of stable COPD that is based on the best scientific
evidence available. We would like to acknowledge the
work of the members of the GOLD Science Committee
who volunteered their time to review the scientific literature
and prepare the recommendations for care of patients with COPD that are described in this revised report. In the next few years, the GOLD Science Committee will continue to work to refine this new approach and, as they have done during the past several years, will review published literature and prepare an annual updated report.

GOLD has been fortunate to have a network of
international distinguished health professionals from
multiple disciplines. Many of these experts have initiated
investigations of the causes and prevalence of COPD in
their countries, and have developed innovative approaches for the dissemination and implementation of COPD
management guidelines. We particularly appreciate the
work accomplished by the GOLD National Leaders on
behalf of their patients with COPD. The GOLD initiative
will continue to work with the GOLD National Leaders and
other interested health care professionals to bring COPD to
the attention of governments, public health officials, health
care workers, and the general public to raise awareness
of the burden of COPD and to develop programs for early
detection, prevention and approaches to management.

We are most appreciative of the unrestricted educational
grants from Almirall, AstraZeneca, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Dey Pharma, Ferrer International, Forest
Laboratories, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck Sharp & Dohme,
Nonin Medical, Novartis, Nycomed, Pearl Therapeutics,
and Pfizer that enabled development of this report.

Roberto Rodriguez Roisin, MD
Chair, GOLD Executive Committee
Professor of Medicine
Hospital Clínic, Universitat de Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain

Jørgen Vestbo, MD
Chair, GOLD Science Committee
Hvidovre University Hospital
Hvidovre, Denmark (and)
The University of Manchester
Manchester, UK

To read the entire document please download it by clicking here.

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