272 MRM Editorial / Editoriale The European Respiratory Roadmap

It is clear by now that health policy makers did not devote the deserved attention to respiratory dis-eases in the last decades. The five most important respiratory diseases (COPD, asthma, lung cancer, pneumonia and tuberculosis) are now responsible for 20 % of the mortality worldwide [1,2]. The annu-al cost associated with these diseases amounts to €100 billion in Europe. Worldwide there are presently about 300 million people with asthma and 210 million persons with COPD and millions more with a host of other lung diseases [3]. COPD is now the fourth cause of death and is predicted to become the third cause of death by 2030. Respiratory diseases are also very important causes of disability and reduction in health related qualit