India

The Pulmocare Research and Education (PURE) Foundation was established under the leadership of Dr. Sundeep Salvi as an independent charitable, not for profit organization to address the unmet needs of research and knowledge dissemination in the field of Obstructive Airways Diseases in India.

According to the latest Global Burden of Diseases Report, 2017, India has one of the highest burden of chronic respiratory diseases. India contributes to 15.69% of Global Chronic Respiratory Diseases but 30.28% of all global deaths due to Chronic Respiratory Disease occur in India. India has the highest number of COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) cases in the world, a whopping 55.23 million! The second-largest number of global deaths due to COPD, almost 0.85 million, occur in India. India also leads the world in deaths due to Asthma with 43% of global asthma deaths occurring in our country. Yet awareness in the healthcare community and the public remains low about these two chronic lung conditions which cause a huge health and economic burden on our health and health care system.

Since its establishment, the Pulmocare Research and Education (PURE) Foundation has been addressing the significant burden of obstructive airway diseases in India. This commitment is realized through research, education, advocacy, and community outreach. The PURE Foundation actively engages in community-based research, examining the prevalence and risk factors of conditions such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, and COPD from an Indian perspective.

Recently, PURE has initiated a project aimed at raising awareness about air pollution within the community. This endeavour call PAWAN (Pollution Awareness and Wellness Assessment Initiative) includes organizing free health checkup camps to assess the community's health status concerning conditions like anaemia, diabetes, and lung health. Dedication to enhancing existing public healthcare systems is evident in PURE's efforts to facilitate early diagnosis and appropriate management of asthma and COPD. This is achieved through various educational programs and capacity-building activities targeting healthcare professionals such as pulmonologists, internists, paediatricians, medical students, and paramedical staff. These initiatives focus on improving proficiency in lung function testing, the use of inhaler devices, and proper prescription writing.

As the designated India collaborator for the Global RECHARGE (NIHR Global Health Research Group on Respiratory Rehabilitation) project, PURE Foundation collaborates with the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and the University of Leicester, UK. This project's goal is to advance pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) worldwide through research and capacity-building endeavors. In the Indian context, Global RECHARGE specifically addresses challenges related to awareness, accessibility, and acceptance of PR.

Dr. Sundeep Salvi has been given the responsibility to act as the course director for the Spirometry Simplified training module initiated by IPCRG. This training aims to encourage primary care physicians to learn and implement spirometry in their practices, enabling early diagnosis of asthma and COPD.