Скачать или смотреть The Silent Epidemic: COPD and the 3.5 Million Deaths No One Talks About - José Luis Castro

We sit down with Dr. José Luis Castro, Director General Special Envoy for Chronic Respiratory Diseases at the WHO, to confront one of the most overlooked yet devastating health crises of our time: chronic respiratory diseases—specifically asthma and COPD.
With over three decades of experience in global health leadership, he has dedicated his career to advancing sustainable health initiatives across developing countries and urban centres worldwide.
The Central Question
When a child can't breathe, everything else stops. But when an adult has COPD, the world kind of crosses the street. Why? COPD is the hidden respiratory crisis—often met with a shrug, silent judgement, or post-pandemic fear. We assume it's a consequence of lifestyle choices. We tell ourselves they brought it on themselves somehow, and in doing so, we give ourselves permission to look away. This judgement is a failure of empathy and a failure of society.
Key Topics Discussed:

The Scale of the Crisis: Over half a billion people affected. 3.5 million deaths every year. Yet only one article in the New York Times in 2024—an obituary. Why chronic respiratory diseases are the Cinderella of public health.
The Stigma Problem: How COPD has been framed as a "smoker's disease"—and why that narrative is both scientifically wrong and morally dangerous. The role of air pollution, occupational exposure, and early-life lung injury in creating this invisible epidemic.
What COPD Actually Looks Like: A visceral, unflinching picture of life with COPD—from three oxygen cylinders (one by the bed, one in the toilet, one in the living room) to the slow suffocation of social isolation, breathlessness, and the erosion of dignity. Why breathlessness is invisible—and why that invisibility is deadly.
The Indoor Air Connection: Why the majority of our exposure to outdoor air pollution occurs indoors. How the built environment—our homes, schools, and workplaces—is either protecting us or slowly poisoning us. The fundamental contract we have with buildings is broken.
Environmental Justice: Why this is not just a problem for "the poor" or "smokers"—it's a problem for all of us. Anyone who breathes is at risk. And we are only one diagnosis away from being vulnerable ourselves.

GUEST:
Dr. José Luis Castro - Director General Special Envoy for Chronic Respiratory Diseases, WHO
  / jose-luis-castro  
https://www.emro.who.int/health-topic...
https://www.who.int/
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00:00:00 Introduction: The Silent Crisis of Chronic Respiratory Disease
00:02:31 Meet Jose Luis Castro: The WHO's Mission on Respiratory Health
00:04:44 The Staggering Numbers: Half a Billion People Affected
00:08:01 The Stigma Problem: Why COPD Gets Ignored
00:11:20 Clean Air as a Human Right: The UN General Assembly Pledge
00:13:46 From Numbers to Action: Making Air Quality Personal
00:17:30 The Inequality of Exposure: Environmental Justice and Air Quality
00:26:41 The Tobacco Parallel: Lessons from Successful Policy Change
00:29:28 Agency and Action: Why Individual Power Matters
00:36:43 The Invisible Organ: Why We Don't Talk About Lungs
00:39:17 Childhood Exposure: Creating Glass Ceilings for Young Lungs
00:43:38 What COPD Really Looks Like: A Paramedic's Perspective
00:47:33 Living with COPD: The Oxygen Tank Reality
00:52:58 The Coughing Boy: Social Isolation and Respiratory Disease
00:58:41 Beyond Smoking: The Real Causes of COPD
01:03:22 Early Detection and Spirometry: The Diagnostic Challenge
01:07:00 The Economic Case: Healthcare Costs and Productivity Loss
01:07:59 Occupational Health: Construction, Welding, and Workplace Exposure
01:14:25 The 2025 Breakthrough: Political Recognition at Last
01:17:01 Breaking Down Silos: Why Doctors Must Ask About Buildings
01:19:27 The Built Environment is in Us: Rethinking Our Relationship with Buildings
01:24:42 Jose's Journey: From TB to COPD
01:27:41 The Universal Threat: Why This Affects Everyone
01:33:15 Closing Thoughts: Breathing as the Starting Point