World COPD Day is an annual observance led by GOLD.
The 2026 theme and logos are GOLD’s, used with permission. World COPD Day® is a registered mark of GOLD.
Breathe easier, sooner.
COPD is common, often missed and treatable. Many people live with it for years before anyone names it. This World COPD Day, ask for a breathing test, and if you have COPD, test once for Alpha-1.
- 01Know the signs
- 02Ask for a breathing test
- 03Test once for Alpha-1
- 04Start care early
Five questions. One conversation.
Check any that sound like you. If even one does, ask your provider about a breathing test called spirometry.
AI-generated imageBased on GOLD’s World COPD Day 2026 key messages on symptoms and risk factors.
Some COPD runs in families. Test once.
Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (Alpha-1) is an inherited condition that can cause COPD, sometimes at a young age. It can affect the liver too. Most people who have it have never been tested.
Guidelines recommend Alpha-1 testing for people with COPD. It’s a simple blood test your provider can order, and you only need it once. A result can shape your care and tell your relatives whether they should test too.
“I have COPD. Have I been tested for Alpha‑1?”
AI-generated imageSources: Alpha-1 Foundation; WHO.
How does COPD make you feel?
Living with it, or loving someone who does. Add one word and your country. No names, nothing else. Together the words show what COPD feels like, around the world.
from 0 countries
Thank you for sharing.
Whatever you’re feeling, you’re not alone. Lung organizations around the world run helplines, support groups and online communities. Find one where you live.
Pass on the five questionsWhat COPD feels like
Words grow as more people share them.
Wherever you live, you’re not alone.
Organizations around the world help people with COPD, their families and their care teams. Start with one near you.
Worldwide
- Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS)Respiratory societies working together on lung health
- Global Allergy & Airways Patient Platform (GAAPP)Patient organizations for COPD and airways disease in many countries
- Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD)Leads World COPD Day; the GOLD Report for clinicians
- International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG)Resources for primary care teams
By country and region
- AustraliaLung Foundation AustraliaCOPD information, support groups and helpline
- CanadaCanadian Lung AssociationLung health and support across Canada
- EuropeEuropean Lung FoundationPatient information in many languages
- United KingdomAsthma + Lung UKCOPD support and helpline
- United StatesAlpha-1 FoundationAlpha-1 testing and support
- United StatesAmerican Lung AssociationLung health and the Lung HelpLine
- United StatesCOPD FoundationLiving with COPD, education and community
- Your country?Know an organization we should add?Tell us who helps people with COPD where you live. Email info@ahis.org →
Listed alphabetically; a listing is not an endorsement.
Four ways to show up on November 18.
Awareness is the start. The next step is a breathing test, and for anyone with COPD, one Alpha-1 test.
Talk to your provider
Ask about a breathing test, and whether you’ve been tested for Alpha-1.
Could it be COPD? →Share the message
Twelve ready-to-post tiles with captions and a posting calendar.
Get the toolkit →Join the Big Baton Pass
A 24-hour online relay for COPD, passed around the world on November 18.
See the relay →Become a partner
Join the partner wall for free, and post the tiles with your logo.
Join the partner wall →Common. Often missed. Treatable.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe. It includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
There’s more than one cause. Some COPD is genetic, like Alpha-1. Air pollution, dust and fumes at work, premature birth, childhood lung infections and smoking can all play a part. COPD can begin early in life.
Source: World Health Organization, COPD fact sheet. November is also COPD Awareness Month.
Join GOLD on November 18.
The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) leads World COPD Day every November, and has for 25 years. Download GOLD’s 2026 graphic and press release, and share them with credit to GOLD.
Stay in touch.
Get World COPD Day updates and new materials, or tell us how you’ll take part.
Know something we should include? Email info@ahis.org.