Dr. Àlvar Agustí, chairman of the GOLD initiative for the diagnosis and treatment of COPD

Dr. Alvar Agustí, has been elected president of the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disesase (GOLD) a global consensus about the strategy for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Dr. Agustí is Director of the Institute Clínic Respiratory at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Head of the Inflammation and repair in respiratory illnesses IDIBAPS team, member of the Networked Biomedical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases (CIBERES) and president and founder of the Barcelona Respiratory Network (BRN).

COPD is a disease that affects 10% of the general population and is the third leading cause of death worldwide. It is characterized by a limitation of expiratory air flow and is associated with an abnormal inflammatory response in the airways. The GOLD initiative is responsible for the preparation of a strategic report about the diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of COPD around the world. This report reviews the latest findings in this field and aims to be used as a guide to be adapted by each country to its health system. Dr. Agustí defines his appointment to lead this initiative as “an honor, because you are chosen by your colleagues, and a great responsibility, as GOLD is a worldwide organization“.

In COPD it was considered that there were no differences among patients with the disease. Now, it has been proved that there are variations from one person to another due to factors such as age or comorbidities. “We are heading towards precision medicine, to tailor-made solutions” explains Dr. Agustí. In this context, in COPD research plays a key role and progress in this field is being made, but it must be reflected in clinical practice. This is why, “instead of a single report, which is reviewed once every four years, we should have a living and revisable document“, says Dr. Agustí, who adds that “we must evolve and take advantage of the new available technologies“. One of the projects that he wants to develop as chairman of GOLD is creating a computer system to help doctors, both from primary care and pulmonologists, to let them quickly and easily access to all the necessary information for management of patients with COPD.