Council of the European Union adopts conclusions on chronic respiratory diseases in children

On December 2, the Council of the European Union adopted a set of conclusions regarding "Prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of chronic respiratory diseases in children." This topic had been identified by the Polish Presidency of the EU as one of its public health priorities. According to the press release, the conclusions urge member states “to give appropriate consideration to the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of chronic respiratory diseases in children in their health programmes” and “to increase public awareness of these diseases, strengthen smoking prevention and cessation programmes for pregnant women and follow the Council recommendation on smoke-free environment.” In addition, the Council asks the Commission “to support member states in developing and implementing effective policies on the prevention of chronic respiratory diseases in children, improving networking among institutions responsible for the implementation of member states' programmes, and strengthening cooperation of national centres and reinforcing existing international research networks.”