Why is Health Equity Important for Respiratory Patients? (with live Q&A)

The overall life expectancy gap between the most affluent and poorest areas is widening – with respiratory disease as a contributor.

Lung conditions are caused and/or triggered by exposure to things that are often related to socioeconomic status, including air pollution, poor housing, tobacco smoking, and access to healthcare services.¹ Mortality from preventable respiratory diseases in individuals under 75 (2017 to 2019) was 2.9 times higher in the most socioeconomically deprived areas in England compared to the least deprived.²

NHS England has developed a national approach, CORE20PLUS5, to support the reduction of health inequalities at both national and system level. There are specific aims for respiratory including addressing over-reliance on reliever medication and decreasing the number of asthma attacks.³ Notably, despite respiratory disease contributing to a significant burden of overall healthcare, respiratory research funding remains comparatively lower than funding for other disease types.⁴

Chiesi would like to highlight the specific influence that health inequity can have on respiratory diseases – to benefit clinicians in developing a deeper understanding into the lives of their patients to support improved respiratory outcomes.

Chiesi welcomes Professor Ivan Browne who will present on the effect of health equity on individuals. He will provide an overview of the topic with national and regional statistics, general factors that influence health equity such as the environment (housing and air quality), access to healthcare and socioeconomic factors.

He is joined by Dr Llinos Jones who will look at health equity through the eyes of an asthma and COPD patient. Her presentation includes reference to the cost-of-living crisis, significance of health literacy and ethnic/cultural considerations for clinicians to think about when engaging with patients. This webinar will also include a patient video to provide a real patient perspective for the benefit of healthcare professionals in the audience.

Please join us on Tuesday 2^nd September 2025 at 1–2pm for this webinar and live Q&A session.

References

1. Asthma & Lung UK. Breathing Unequal. https://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/breathingunequalfinalpdf

2. Public Health England. Respiratory disease: applying All Our Health. Updated May 2022. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/respiratory-disease-applying-all-our-health/respiratory-disease-applying-all-our-health

3. NHS England. CORE20PLUS5. https://www.england.nhs.uk/about/equality/equality-hub/national-healthcare-inequalities-improvement-programme/core20plus5/core20plus5-cyp/

4. British Thoracic Society. Position Statement on Health Inequalities and Respiratory 2023. https://www.brit-thoracic.org.uk/about-us/position-statements/

If you are experiencing any issues viewing the webinar please click here to view the webinar through the Zoom platform.

• Dr Llinos Jones

  Consultant Respiratory Physician

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  Dr Llinos Jones

  Consultant Respiratory Physician Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust

  Role and Location
  Dr Llinos Jones is a Consultant Respiratory Physician with a specialist interest in asthma and is the Clinical Lead for Physician Associates at Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust. Since setting up a multidisciplinary Difficult Asthma service in Dewsbury, she’s become keen to help address health inequalities, and over the last few years has worked to create a variety of multilingual and multimedia resources for asthma patients. She has founded a national repository with the Respiratory Futures team for these patients and continues to work towards improving inclusivity and our understanding of the cultural aspects of asthma care.

  Education
  She studied at Nottingham, and moved to Leeds to complete her postgraduate specialist training and a Master’s in Clinical Education.

  Research Interests
  Llinos has a keen interest in Medical Education and helped set up the British Thoracic Society e-learning platform.

• Professor Ivan Browne

  Professor in Public Health and Non-Executive Director

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  Professor Ivan Browne

  Professor in Public Health and Non-Executive Director De Montfort University Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

  Role and Location
  He is currently a Professor in Public Health at De Montfort University. Prof. Browne was until recently the Director of Public Health for the City of Leicester and was at the forefront of leading the city through the COVID 19 pandemic.

  Education
  Ivan is a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health, where he has been awarded with the President’s Medal for his contributions to Public Health. He is an honorary Doctor of Loughborough University and is a Deputy Lieutenant for Leicester and Leicestershire and has been named as one of the Rising Stars in the Health Service Journals 50 most influential Black, Asian and Ethnic people in health in both 2022 and 2023.

  Research Interests
  Ivan is passionate about finding ways to tackle the significant levels of inequality evident within multicultural urban environments like Leicester. He is particularly interested in the development and application of new and emerging technologies that can potentially enhance the health and wellbeing of the population as a whole but more specifically those at greater risk of poor health outcomes.