Estimates suggest that as many as 9.2 million people worldwide may be living with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis or progressive pulmonary fibrosis. But there are no statistics that tell how many people put off going to the doctor to get that nagging cough checked.
That gap between numbers and behaviour is everything.
Pulmonary fibrosis is progressive and irreversible. It scars the lungs, making them stiff and rigid where they should be soft and elastic. Over time, the impact compounds. Daily activities become exhausting. The disease carries a heavy burden, not just physical but emotional and social. Patients lose independence. Families lose time.
Yet studies indicate that diagnosis may be delayed by approximately one to two years, as early symptoms can be mistaken for ageing, reduced fitness or more common respiratory conditions. During that time, patients are confused. They attribute symptoms to ageing. They assume it will pass. They hesitate to see their doctor, perhaps afraid of what they might hear, or simply not recognising the signs for what they are.
The Elevator Campaign speaks to this hesitation directly. That moment in the elevator. That conversation you know you need to have but keep postponing. That appointment you push to next month, then the month after.
What the campaign reminds us of is this: do not put that appointment off. That postponement has a cost you cannot afford.
The field of pulmonary fibrosis has evolved considerably. We have moved from accepting minimal options to understanding the critical role of early intervention. Yet we have also learned that simply having a treatment is not enough. Treatment adherence, tolerability, and patient quality of life remain central challenges.
If patients cannot tolerate a therapy, or if the burden of side effects eclipses the benefits of treatment, then we have not truly solved the problem. This is where the conversation must shift. The question is no longer just whether a treatment slows disease progression. It is whether that treatment enables patients to remain on their treatment journey prescribed to them to manage their condition.
The approval of a new treatment option in the UAE signals something important: the field is advancing.
We now have an opportunity to reframe how we approach pulmonary fibrosis.
Not as a disease patients must manage alone with limited options and difficult trade-offs, but as a condition where early detection and sustained, tolerable treatment can materially impact the patient journey.
This is not about replacing one drug with another. It is about what becomes possible when treatment is accessible, sustainable, and truly patient-centered. When patients can commit to therapy without sacrificing what they do in their daily life, then we have truly started to make impact.
But one new therapy is not enough. The gaps remain enormous. Up to half of those diagnosed remain untreated entirely. The disease remains underdiagnosed and often misunderstood.
This is why we will continue to invest in research, in partnerships, in education.
Your lungs deserve the same vigilance you give to every other part of your health. A persistent cough is not normal. Breathlessness with minimal exertion is not aging. Fatigue that worsens is not something to wait out. Speak to your healthcare professional.
Get checked. Get answers. Get treatment early, because early intervention changes outcomes for those living with pulmonary fibrosis.
That is what we are pitching for. For your lungs. For your ability to breathe without struggle. For the future you deserve.
