American Lung Association

Lung cancer, asthma, Lung disease and tobacco control: as part of our mission, we're committed to supporting and improving the lives of the more than 35 million people living with chronic Lung disease - a leading cause of death in the u.s. we do this by investing in research; advocating for policies and legislation that champion clean air, optimal care and reduced access to tobacco products; and providing programs, resources and support to help individuals living with Lung disease and their families to better understand and manage their disease.in fiscal year 2024, the American Lung Association research institute again provided annual grants to promising scientists tackling the broad challenges of Lung health and academic medical centers conducting clinical trials on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (copd) and asthma. During Lung cancer action week (may 6-12, 2024), we celebrated the 10th anniversary of our Lung force initiative - uniting individuals impacted by Lung cancer to raise awareness and funds to support research, education, early detection and treatments to save lives. To date, Lung force has raised more than $32 million for lifesaving cancer research, allowing us to expand our research commitment by 146%. Throughout the year, we also advocated for congressional funding for Lung cancer and Lung disease. This included our Lung force heroes traveling to Washington, dc, in march seeking $51.3 billion for the national institutes of health (nih) for better early detection, treatment and a cure for Lung cancer, and another $11.6 billion for the centers for disease control (cdc) to build healthier communities and protect our nation's communities from disease, including Lung cancer. In addition, we helped to expand access to biomarker testing - the evaluation of Lung tumor tissue to help determine an individual's specific type of Lung cancer (non-small cell, small cell or carcinoid), allowing for precise and potentially successful treatment - in Colorado, Connecticut, Iowa, Indiana and Florida. For individuals newly diagnosed with Lung cancer, we also launched an informational campaign on Lung nodules, including staging and treatment.in october, we released our 6th annual "state of Lung cancer" report, highlighting Lung cancer breakthroughs and state-by-state Lung cancer rates, and the lifesaving potential of Lung cancer screening which can detect the disease at an earlier stage when it's more curable. In fiscal year 2024, our Lung cancer screening eligibility quiz, part of our saved by the scan campaign, enabled more than 260,000 people to learn if they are at high risk for Lung cancer and eligible for screening. Since the campaign was launched in 2017, Lung cancer screening rates among those who are eligible increased more than 170%. If Lung cancer is caught before it spreads, the likelihood of surviving five years or more jumps to 64%. For our patients and caregivers, we continued to offer new and enhanced educational campaigns, programs and resources. In june, we added the wellness hub to our patient & caregiver network, offering free, online mental health and wellness resources including articles, videos, webcasts, disease management tools and disease-specific online communities. Resource topics include mindfulness, movement and self-discovery practices, and nutrition tips and recipes for people living with Lung disease.this year, we also launched two copd campaigns: a "copd for life" campaign, providing information and resources for individuals living with copd - the sixth leading cause of death in the u.s. - on the latest treatment and care guidelines; and "the early warning signs of work-related copd" campaign, highlighting how to protect your lungs in the workplace. For individuals living with asthma, we expanded our asthma for life-breathe well, live well education series to include an online, self-paced 90-minute program.as the fall approached, we enhanced our campaigns to educate individuals and families about the dangers of seasonal respiratory disease - influenza, or the flu, respiratory syncytial disease (rsv) and covid-19 - and the importance of immunizations.this past year, we translated our freedom from smoking plus digital smoking cessation program into 38 languages, launched a digital advertising campaign to more broadly promote our saved by the scan program, and collaborated with influencers to ensure greater representation in our Lung health cohort research study.in addition, we continued to support the awareness, trust, and action program to reduce mistrust and to more broadly promote clinical trials.our goal continues to be a tobacco-free future for all. Our 22nd "state of tobacco control" report highlighted the ongoing devastation caused by tobacco use and the aggressive marketing tactics used by tobacco companies aimed at teens and young adults. Throughout the year, we championed policies and legislation that would end the sale of menthol cigarettes, flavored cigars and unauthorized e-cigarette products.as schools across the country continue to grapple with an epidemic of tobacco use among teens, we launched our comprehensive approach to ending the youth vaping model in fiscal year 2024, providing a roadmap for school administrators to create a tobacco-free future. The multi-faceted program promotes student engagement, educates school personnel in tobacco intervention strategies, provides assessments for school districts to evaluate their student engagement and tobacco-free campus programs, and provides an evidence-based cessation program for teens who are using tobacco products and want to quit. In addition, we launched an online version of our indepth (intervention for nicotine dependence: education, prevention, tobacco and health) program, an alternative to suspensions and other disciplinary measures for students who violate school policies that prohibit vaping. Our youth vaping prevention campaign provides resources and encourages parents to talk to their kids, ages 10-14, about the dangers of vaping. Since the program's launch in 2020, this campaign has enabled more than 4.3 million people to get the facts about vaping. And our efforts are working! New 2024 national youth tobacco survey e-cigarette and nicotine pouch data from the fda showed a 70% decline in the number of middle and high school students using e-cigarettes since the peak of the epidemic. Finally, as we believe that with help everyone can quit tobacco, we continued to expand our smoking and tobacco cessation education and support programs. In fiscal year 2024, we launched a new freedom from smoking motivational texting program providing weekly motivational messages, along with tips and resources, to help individuals quit for good. We also provided free tobacco cessation programming for active military personnel, veterans and their families through our freedom from smoking plus program, and expanded our ask, advise, refer to quit don't switch tobacco intervention training program for healthcare providers to include a short Lung cancer risk assessment.

Advocacy and environmental:each year, the American Lung Association supports policies and legislation that help everyone breathe easier. This includes advocating for laws that protect our children from deadly air pollution and tobacco products and provide funding for critical Lung disease research and health programs.in fiscal year 2024, we showed continued leadership in advocating for federal and state policy changes that protect and improve access to care for individuals living with serious, acute and chronic health conditions. Our efforts included hosting our first respiratory advocacy day in september; bringing members of our asthma and copd patient advisory groups to Washington, d.c. In march to advocate for access to lifesaving and life-enhancing supplemental oxygen; and supporting the family asthma act throughout the year to expand asthma support and resources to all 50 states. We also asked states and the federal government to protect medicaid access and eligibility as millions of people were disenrolled following the end of the public health emergency.as we know that without clean air we can't breathe, we continued to address ongoing threats to air quality and Lung health and to strongly advocate for crucial clean air laws and policy changes, including tighter limits on mercury, air toxics and carbon pollution approved by the u.s. environmental protection agency (epa). The epa also updated the national standards for particle pollution.in april, we released the 25th annual "state of the air" report highlighting state and national air quality statistics and revealing historic spikes in deadly air particle pollution, with people living in the u.s. Experiencing the most days with "very unhealthy and "hazardous" air quality in 25 years. This steady increase in deadly particle pollution, especially in the western u.s., is due to extreme heat, drought and wildfires, according to the report, which graded exposure to unhealthy levels of ground-level ozone air pollution (also known as smog) and short-term spikes and annual average of particle pollution (soot) over a three-year period. Air pollution is not good for anyone to breathe; however, some individuals are more at risk of its effects, including children, older adults, individuals who are pregnant, people living with asthma, copd and other chronic diseases. As the prevalence of wildfires in north america and their impact on air quality and Lung health continued to grow (2023 was the worst year ever for wildfires in canada and parts of the u.s.), we partnered with the canadian Lung Association to raise awareness about the health impacts of wildfire smoke and to educate people on how to protect themselves from poor air quality. Together, our organizations are also advocating for ways to mitigate catastrophic wildfires. And unhealthy air isn't only outdoors. This past year, we continued to raise awareness of indoor air risks; promote important clean air policy and initiatives; and offer essential resources on how to maintain clean air in schools, workplaces and homes, empowering individuals to safeguard their health. Our new resources include a video and fact sheets on volatile organic compounds, or vocs. These chemicals, found in thousands of everyday products, including household cleaning supplies, can vaporize at room temperature, potentially causing cancer. We also launched a new campaign on work-related, or occupational copd, including an overview of early warning signs and symptoms, and an assessment to determine workplace exposure to dust, chemicals, vapors or fumes. Radon, a colorless, tasteless and odorless gas that causes cancer, can be found in homes and buildings throughout the u.s. This past year, we continued to educate individuals about the importance of home radon testing, and if warranted, remediation. This included helping thousands of homes in Pennsylvania receive free radon test kits during fiscal year 2024.

Research: for more than a century, the American Lung Association has driven Lung health advancements and innovation by supporting medical research. This year, the American Lung Association research institute continued to fund high-impact, lifesaving research, bringing together the best scientific minds to address critical Lung health challenges.in september, the American Lung Association research institute awarded grants to 129 promising scientists committed to improving the prevention, detection and treatment of Lung disease. And our grants are having an enormous impact, as researchers tell us that every dollar we spend on research generates 11 times that amount in additional funding from government agencies, like nih. We also reached a critical milestone in our Lung health cohort research study, where we expect to follow 4,000 young, healthy adults for approximately five years with the goal of identifying risk factors for Lung disease. At the end of the fiscal year 2024, we had reached the halfway point, recruiting nearly 2,000 participants. To ensure that the study includes broad representation, we collaborated with influencers to promote the value of the study. Our research institute also supports our airways clinical research centers network, the largest nonprofit clinical research network providing asthma and copd clinical trials at prominent academic medical centers, as well as innovative industry and nonprofit partnerships to accelerate discovery and innovation. This past year we awarded $500,000 to Texas biomedical research institute to support research to develop a universal flu vaccine, which would immunize people against all influenza strains and provide long-lasting protection, potentially eliminating yearly shots.in fiscal year 2024, we joined the lungevity foundation in announcing a $3 million research partnership to "intercept Lung cancer" - creating innovative strategies to catch precancerous cells and block them from turning into cancer cells. We also launched a $1 million research endowment honoring courtney cox cole, an Indiana mom and business owner who lost her battle with egfr mutant Lung cancer at the age of 48. The inaugural courtney cox cole Lung cancer research award was presented to wei tao, phd of harvard university-affiliated brigham and women's hospital in boston, who is conducting trailblazing work on combination Lung cancer therapies using nanoparticles to deliver experimental drugs through inhalation. In partnership with the pulmonary hypertension Association we hosted our first scientific roundtable, bringing together pulmonary and cardiac experts to share insights on the latest diagnosis and treatment of pulmonary hypertension. The goal of the roundtable was to gain a better understanding of the guidelines to provide resources and guidance to healthcare providers in optimally caring for patients with pulmonary hypertension, a serious condition that causes abnormally high pressure in the blood vessels between the lungs and heart.