- Chronic lung diseases cause as much as 9 percent of disability in Poland. Lung diseases are second in order as causes of sickness absence. This is a huge public health problem," says Dr. Malgorzata Czajkowska-Malinowska, president of PTChP, in an interview with Medexpress. What path has pneumonology traveled over these nine decades?
90 years of the Polish Lung Association: Pneumonology has come a long way
Published Dec. 17, 2024 13:11
- Pneumonology is still perceived in the consciousness as a little-known, even camouflaged specialty, and certainly undervalued and underfunded. I, on the other hand, would like to say that it is a specialty that has come a very long way - from phtysiatry dealing with tuberculosis to a full-fledged field of internal medicine," emphasizes Dr. Malgorzata Czajkowska-Malinowska.
As he adds, it is a very broad specialty. It covers lung diseases broadly, but also deals with intensive care of patients with respiratory failure, as well as patients with allergic diseases - including asthma.
- A large part of our activity is pulmonary oncology, focused primarily on the fight against lung cancer, currently one of the biggest challenges in health care. Also indispensable in our work is prevention, related to examinations, anti-tobacco counseling and vaccinations. We also provide home oxygen and ventilator treatment," the PTChP president points out.
Especially during COVID-19, however, the role of pulmonologists in the fight against infectious respiratory diseases was evident. All this, however, is still only a slice of the work of these experts.
- Our domain is complicated, complicated pneumonia or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (more than 2 million people struggle with it), interstitial diseases - as many as 200 disease entities. An amazing branch of medicine is sleep medicine, including breathing disorders. People who have sleep apnea are our patients," he adds.
- Chronic lung diseases cause as much as 9 percent of disability in Poland. Lung diseases are second in order as causes of sickness absence. This is a huge public health problem," points out Dr. Malgorzata Czajkowska-Malinowska.
As the PTChP president reminds us, pulmonologists work in close cooperation with doctors from other disciplines: cardiologists, allergologists or rheumatologists.
- We also combine our specialty very strongly with thoracic surgery. We establish the diagnosis, and the surgeons operate. We, in turn, sometimes ask them for intraoperative examinations," he points out.
The 90th Anniversary Gala of the Polish Lung Association was held at the Royal Castle in Warsaw on Thursday, December 12. The event brought together numerous representatives from the world of medicine, science and public administration. This unusual meeting, which was a journey through 90 years of the Society's history, provided an opportunity to reflect on the development of Polish pneumonology and express gratitude to those who have been involved in the fight for the lung health of Poles for years.
