[Event Report] The 140th HGPI Seminar: The Importance of Early Detection to Reduce the Disease Burden of COPD: Perspectives on Respiratory Care Bridging Clinical Practice and Policy
HGPI hosted its 140th seminar featuring Professor Shigeo Muro on the challenges of early COPD detection. The seminar highlighted the 'Komorebi 2032' project and the critical need for policy frameworks, such as revising health checkup items, to combat the disease.
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At the 140th HGPI Seminar, we welcomed Dr. Shigeo Muro, Professor at the Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nara Medical University, to give a lecture on the theme of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). He spoke about insights into the disease burden of COPD, the barriers preventing early detection, and the vision for implementable early detection models and regional collaboration towards the year 2032.
Key Points:
- COPD is a highly prevalent disease that develops and progresses due to smoking and air pollution. It is associated with an increased risk of frailty and cardiovascular diseases, causing not only a burden on the lungs but also significant social and medical burdens.
- The lungs have functional reserve, and individuals unconsciously adopt energy-saving behaviors to prevent disrupted breathing. Therefore, symptoms of COPD are hard to self-recognize, which is a major factor hindering early detection. Consequently, by the time a diagnosis is made, frailty has often already progressed.
- The Japanese Respiratory Society's 'Komorebi 2032' project promotes realistic early detection strategies aimed at reducing the COPD mortality rate by 2032, including the use of screening questionnaires (COPD-PS), analysis utilizing existing CT images, and the identification of latent patients through multidisciplinary collaboration.
- To promote COPD countermeasures nationwide in Japan, it is essential to strengthen the policy foundation, including a review of health checkup items and financial support for multidisciplinary collaboration models. Furthermore, there is an expectation that respiratory diseases will be positioned as a major policy issue alongside cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
[Event Overview]
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 18:00-19:15
Format: Online (Zoom Webinar)
Language: Japanese
Admission: Free
Organizer: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)
[Speaker Profile]
Shigeo Muro (Professor, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nara Medical University)
After graduating from Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine in 1989 and working at Tazuke Kofukai Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital, he completed his doctoral program at Kyoto University Graduate School in 1998 (MD, PhD). After serving as a researcher at the Meakins-Christie Laboratories at McGill University and as a lecturer and associate professor at Kyoto University, he assumed his current position in 2018. In addition to serving as an Executive Board Member and Chair of the Health Insurance Committee of the Japanese Respiratory Society, he has successively held the positions of Managing Editor and Vice-Chair for the 5th to 7th editions of the society's 'Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of COPD', and serves as the Chair for the 2nd edition (published in 2024) of the 'Guide for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma and COPD Overlap'. He is also involved in the society's project aimed at reducing COPD mortality.
Key Points:
- COPD is a highly prevalent disease that develops and progresses due to smoking and air pollution. It is associated with an increased risk of frailty and cardiovascular diseases, causing not only a burden on the lungs but also significant social and medical burdens.
- The lungs have functional reserve, and individuals unconsciously adopt energy-saving behaviors to prevent disrupted breathing. Therefore, symptoms of COPD are hard to self-recognize, which is a major factor hindering early detection. Consequently, by the time a diagnosis is made, frailty has often already progressed.
- The Japanese Respiratory Society's 'Komorebi 2032' project promotes realistic early detection strategies aimed at reducing the COPD mortality rate by 2032, including the use of screening questionnaires (COPD-PS), analysis utilizing existing CT images, and the identification of latent patients through multidisciplinary collaboration.
- To promote COPD countermeasures nationwide in Japan, it is essential to strengthen the policy foundation, including a review of health checkup items and financial support for multidisciplinary collaboration models. Furthermore, there is an expectation that respiratory diseases will be positioned as a major policy issue alongside cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
[Event Overview]
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 27, 2026, 18:00-19:15
Format: Online (Zoom Webinar)
Language: Japanese
Admission: Free
Organizer: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI)
[Speaker Profile]
Shigeo Muro (Professor, Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nara Medical University)
After graduating from Kyoto University Faculty of Medicine in 1989 and working at Tazuke Kofukai Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital, he completed his doctoral program at Kyoto University Graduate School in 1998 (MD, PhD). After serving as a researcher at the Meakins-Christie Laboratories at McGill University and as a lecturer and associate professor at Kyoto University, he assumed his current position in 2018. In addition to serving as an Executive Board Member and Chair of the Health Insurance Committee of the Japanese Respiratory Society, he has successively held the positions of Managing Editor and Vice-Chair for the 5th to 7th editions of the society's 'Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of COPD', and serves as the Chair for the 2nd edition (published in 2024) of the 'Guide for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Asthma and COPD Overlap'. He is also involved in the society's project aimed at reducing COPD mortality.