A man whose survival depends on a double lung transplant has called on the HSE to renegotiate the price of a life-prolonging drug that has been branded too expensive to use.

The number of adults with chronic breathing problems in the North is expected to rise to 40,000 by the end of the decade, it was claimed today.

IN your report of the the TB outbreak in Cork (August 24), the president of the Irish Thoracic Society, Dr Terry O’Connor, said there should be a voluntary testing and treatment facility for immigrants.

A NATIONAL TB screening programme covering all at-risk groups should be introduced immediately, a respiratory expert has urged.

VOLUNTARY screening for tuberculosis (TB) among EU workers in Ireland would help combat the disease that has forced a Cork school to defer re-opening after three pupils were infected.

RESPIRATORY healthcare professionals have called for improved TB screening after it emerged that public health officials are investigating an outbreak of the disease in a Cork school.

The Government was today urged to roll out more support services to help smokers kick their addiction as research revealed 90% of people would find it tough to quit.

NINE out of 10 smokers believe they are addicted or would find it hard to quit and those who tried to stop made around four failed attempts, research shows.

IRELAND has the second highest number of deaths in Europe from respiratory disease, a report revealed yesterday.

Ireland has the highest death rate from respiratory disease in western Europe, according to the Irish Thoracic Society.

RESPIRATORY healthcare professionals have called for an urgent review of national TB services following an outbreak of the disease in Cork.

Chronic lung disease affects people of all ages in Ireland, a leading doctor said today.

IRELAND has one of the worst records in Europe for lung health because the State has refused to give respiratory illness the priority it deserves, a medical expert said yesterday.

German pharmaceuticals and chemicals manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim, has said that GPs and respiratory units nationwide have been inundated with requests for spirometry testing following the Irish Thoracic Society's recent Ash Wednesday campaign.

MUCH of the debate on the proposed ban on smoking in the workplace has focused on either the economic impact of days lost at work due to episodic illness or the incidence of lung cancer due to environmental tobacco smoke and smoking.