AstraZeneca Promotes New COPD Countermeasures Aimed at Extending Healthy Life Expectancy in Koriyama City
AstraZeneca, in collaboration with Koriyama City, held a kickoff seminar to promote new COPD countermeasures aimed at extending healthy life expectancy through regional medical cooperation and early detection.
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- 📰 Published: March 30, 2026 at 20:00
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AstraZeneca K.K. (Headquarters: Kita-ku, Osaka City, Representative Director and President: Takashi Horii, hereinafter "AstraZeneca"), in collaboration with Koriyama City, Fukushima Prefecture (Mayor: Takeo Shiine, hereinafter "Koriyama City"), held the "COPD Countermeasures Collaboration Kickoff Seminar" on March 27, 2026, targeting those involved in regional medicine. The event aimed to promote new countermeasures for COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) to extend healthy life expectancy. This seminar was held as part of the initiatives based on the "Partnership Agreement on Promoting Health Creation for Koriyama Citizens," signed in July 2025. It brought together diverse stakeholders from industry, government, and academia to develop a regional medical system aimed at extending healthy life expectancy by promoting the early detection and treatment of COPD.
While the estimated number of COPD patients in Japan is about 5.3 million (1), the number of patients receiving treatment is only about 382,000 (2), leaving an estimated 5 million as undiagnosed, potential patients. The number of deaths due to COPD in 2023 reached approximately 16,000 (3). The "Health Japan 21 (3rd term)," promoted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, sets a new numerical target to reduce the COPD mortality rate per 100,000 population to 10.0 by FY2032. Furthermore, COPD exacerbations are known to affect cardiovascular events such as chronic heart failure (4), making the development of a system for early consultation, diagnosis, and treatment of COPD extremely important in Koriyama City as well. While Koriyama City has positioned COPD as a priority health issue, the limited number of specialized respiratory medical institutions has posed a challenge in establishing a patient reception system.
The new COPD countermeasures shared at the seminar focus on leading early consultation, early diagnosis, and early treatment through a community-led approach, with Koriyama City, the Koriyama Medical Association, primary care physicians, specialized respiratory medical institutions, academia, and companies working together. Koriyama City will implement individual notices encouraging consultations for high-risk COPD groups, including residents receiving treatment for other conditions like heart disease. For diagnosis, the city will establish a reception system for COPD medical care in the region by listing medical institutions capable of initial diagnosis as "cooperative medical institutions" based on Fukushima Prefecture's unique diagnostic tool, the "COPD-F Protocol."
This initiative aims to clarify the flow of referrals and reverse-referrals among primary care physicians, cooperative medical institutions, and regional specialized respiratory facilities. By executing appropriate treatment interventions according to guidelines post-diagnosis, the goal is to lead continuous management across the region, including cooperation with the cardiovascular field, suppressing exacerbations, and extending healthy life expectancy. Furthermore, with an eye on utilizing medical DX, the effectiveness will be verified using metrics such as consultation rates, diagnosis rates, treatment introduction rates, exacerbations/hospitalizations, and medical costs, continuing improvements based on the PDCA cycle. Through these efforts, the aim is to visualize outcomes as a sustainable and reproducible regional model originating from Koriyama City, providing evidence contributing to nationwide expansion and national policy formation.
■ Statement on COPD Countermeasures Aimed at Extending Healthy Life Expectancy in Koriyama City
At the seminar, alongside discussions on the necessity of COPD countermeasures and specific challenges and initiatives in Koriyama City, the "Koriyama City COPD Countermeasures Statement" was announced, organizing future directions through industry-government-academia collaboration. This statement outlines the fundamental concepts for building a sustainable and innovative regional model to achieve further health promotion and the extension of healthy life expectancy for Koriyama citizens.
While the estimated number of COPD patients in Japan is about 5.3 million (1), the number of patients receiving treatment is only about 382,000 (2), leaving an estimated 5 million as undiagnosed, potential patients. The number of deaths due to COPD in 2023 reached approximately 16,000 (3). The "Health Japan 21 (3rd term)," promoted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, sets a new numerical target to reduce the COPD mortality rate per 100,000 population to 10.0 by FY2032. Furthermore, COPD exacerbations are known to affect cardiovascular events such as chronic heart failure (4), making the development of a system for early consultation, diagnosis, and treatment of COPD extremely important in Koriyama City as well. While Koriyama City has positioned COPD as a priority health issue, the limited number of specialized respiratory medical institutions has posed a challenge in establishing a patient reception system.
The new COPD countermeasures shared at the seminar focus on leading early consultation, early diagnosis, and early treatment through a community-led approach, with Koriyama City, the Koriyama Medical Association, primary care physicians, specialized respiratory medical institutions, academia, and companies working together. Koriyama City will implement individual notices encouraging consultations for high-risk COPD groups, including residents receiving treatment for other conditions like heart disease. For diagnosis, the city will establish a reception system for COPD medical care in the region by listing medical institutions capable of initial diagnosis as "cooperative medical institutions" based on Fukushima Prefecture's unique diagnostic tool, the "COPD-F Protocol."
This initiative aims to clarify the flow of referrals and reverse-referrals among primary care physicians, cooperative medical institutions, and regional specialized respiratory facilities. By executing appropriate treatment interventions according to guidelines post-diagnosis, the goal is to lead continuous management across the region, including cooperation with the cardiovascular field, suppressing exacerbations, and extending healthy life expectancy. Furthermore, with an eye on utilizing medical DX, the effectiveness will be verified using metrics such as consultation rates, diagnosis rates, treatment introduction rates, exacerbations/hospitalizations, and medical costs, continuing improvements based on the PDCA cycle. Through these efforts, the aim is to visualize outcomes as a sustainable and reproducible regional model originating from Koriyama City, providing evidence contributing to nationwide expansion and national policy formation.
■ Statement on COPD Countermeasures Aimed at Extending Healthy Life Expectancy in Koriyama City
At the seminar, alongside discussions on the necessity of COPD countermeasures and specific challenges and initiatives in Koriyama City, the "Koriyama City COPD Countermeasures Statement" was announced, organizing future directions through industry-government-academia collaboration. This statement outlines the fundamental concepts for building a sustainable and innovative regional model to achieve further health promotion and the extension of healthy life expectancy for Koriyama citizens.