The Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) works with health care professionals and public health officials around the world to raise awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and to improve prevention and treatment of this lung disease.
Through the development of evidence-based strategy documents for COPD management and events such as the annual celebration of World COPD Day, GOLD is working to improve the lives of people with COPD in every corner of the globe.
Who Are We?
GOLD was launched in 1997 in collaboration with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, USA, and the World Health Organization.
GOLD’s program is determined and its guidelines for COPD care are shaped by committees made up of leading experts from around the world.
Read more about who is involved with GOLD Committees.
Twenty years of GOLD (1997-2017). The origins by Rodriguez-Roisin, Roberto MD, PhD, FERS.
GOLD Objectives
- Recommend effective COPD management and prevention strategies for use in all countries.
- Increase awareness of the medical community, public health officials and the general public that COPD is a public health problem.
- Decrease morbidity and mortality from COPD through implementation and evaluation of effective programs for diagnosis and management.
- Promote study into reasons for increasing prevalence of COPD including relationship with environment.
- Implement effective programs to prevent COPD.
GOLD Operations
As of July 1, 2014, GOLD's activities are funded entirely by the sale of its documents and resources. These materials may be downloaded from the GOLD Website; printed copies may be purchased for a fee. For information on how to purchase printed copies, please contact us.
Documents and Resources
The GOLD global strategy for the diagnosis, management, and prevention of COPD is presented in its strategy documents, which are freely available on the GOLD Website.
The GOLD Science Committee prepares updates to these documents each year, which are made available on the GOLD Website as they are completed. The Science Committee uses a sophisticated set of procedures to review the world's literature with regards to COPD diagnosis and management and to update the documents to reflect this state-of-the-art information.
World COPD Day
GOLD organizes World COPD Day, which is held on the third Wednesday in November, in collaboration with health care professionals and COPD patient groups throughout the world.
Each year GOLD chooses a theme and coordinates preparation and distribution of World COPD Day materials and resources. GOLD also maintains the World COPD Day Internet Headquarters, where materials and resources are posted for downloading and a complete listing of activities around the world is constantly updated.
The first World COPD Day was held in 2002. Each year organizers in more than 50 countries worldwide have carried out activities, making the day one of the world's most important COPD awareness and education events.