Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a collection of diseases that are chronic, progressive obstructive lung disorders which are not fully reversible. It is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and is expected to be the fifth leading cause of death worldwide by 2020. The Asian-Pacific region appears to be disproportionately affected by COPD. Three possible explanations for this exist: the extremely high use of tobacco particularly in men; exposure to biomass fuels, particularly in women; and, the adverse effects of urban pollution. Regardless of possible causes, COPD is the only leading cause of death throughout the world that is increasing in prevalence and the Asian Pacific region will be the major area of growth. The proposed conference will specifically focus on the impact of COPD in the Asian Pacific region. The conference will be organized in an"""""""" Aspen Lung"""""""" format with invited speakers to discuss specific topics and """"""""State of the State"""""""" related to COPD. Under each topic there will be one expert speaker and """"""""State of the State"""""""" presentations will represent overviews of a defined topic such as GOLD or an overview of COPD from regions or countries of the Pacific Rim area. Abstract presentations will be solicited and judged on the quality of the submitted abstract, together with consideration for geographic representation. The meeting will be held January 10-12, 2003 in Kona, Hawaii. The state of Hawaii is internationally recognized as avenue for review and discussion of important political, economic and health-related East-West issues. This permits the site of the meeting to be on U.S. soil, and yet to be centrally located in the Pacific Rim area and to be easily accessible to attendees from this area. Information will be disseminated by the sponsoring international societies to their respective societies to solicit interest in abstract presentation and """"""""attendance only"""""""" at the meeting. The goals of this meeting are: 1) To develop a multidisciplinary forum to improve the understanding of the impact of COPD in the Pacific Rim. 2) To develop a scientific program where scientists and clinicians from East and West can present and review the latest research and information on COPD in a context where social, cultural and geographic factors can be discussed. 3) To incorporate representatives of lay advocacy groups into the COPD forum to represent the perspectives of COPD patients into this process. and 4) To establish research priorities for COPD relevant to the Pacific Rim.
