THEto World COPD Day it is an event that every year turns the spotlight on an often silent but very widespread pathology, which in Italy and around the world continues to take the breath away – in a literal and figurative sense – from millions of women. A moment of awareness but also of narration, because respiratory health is made up of numbers, of course, but above all of lives, emotions, fragility and strength.
Precisely for this reason, in 2025, the literary competition was born “Writings in Pink”a project that starts from the desire to give a voice to patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals who live there every day Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). A new way to talk about a disease that is still too little known and which is striking 330 million people in the world and represents the third global cause of death. The most surprising fact? According to theAmerican Lung Associationby 2050 cases in women will increase five times faster of male ones (47% versus 9%). It is a disease that no longer affects only chronic smokers or elderly men: today COPD has the face of women.
What is COPD: the “shortness of breath” that should not be ignored
There Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is an inflammatory disease of the lungs that causes a chronic and irreversible airway obstruction. Over time, breathing becomes increasingly difficult.
The most frequent symptoms
Shortness of breath, especially during even slight efforts
Chronic cough (often called “smokers cough”)
Phlegm production
Sensation of tightness in the chest
Recurrent respiratory infections
Persistent fatigue
Many women live with these signs for years without giving them weight. They often attribute them to stress, age, work, and “youth” smoking. And the disease advances in silence.
How to diagnose it: the test that everyone should know
Early diagnosis is decisive to slow the progression of COPD. The main tool is the spirometrya simple, noninvasive test that measures the ability of the lungs to move air.
Yet, very few women perform it. He confirms it Simona BarbagliaPresident ofLet’s Breathe Together Aps Association. «Educating patients to recognize the signs can slow down the progress of the disease. Early diagnosis is the first step to improving life prospects.”
Can it be cured? The therapies available today
Despite being chronic, COPD can be controlled. Treatments today include:
- Bronchodilators short and long term;
Inhaled corticosteroids;
Pulmonary rehabilitationfundamental for recovering autonomy;
Vaccinations against influenza and pneumococcus;
Oxygen therapy in advanced cases;
Stop smokingthe true cornerstone of therapy;
Digital technologies for daily monitoring.
The objective is not only to improve breathing, but to maintain the patients’ quality of life active, independent and peaceful.
Writings in Pink: when illness becomes history, community, cure
To give a face and voice to COPD, the ceremony of the first edition of “Writings in Pink to give emotion to the breath”promoted by Let’s breathe together Aps.
Three categories – patients, caregivers, healthcare personnel – And nine winners select from 60 stories arrived from all over Italy.
The science journalist will do the honors Annalisa Manducawho recalled how prevention also begins with the story: “Words are part of the cure”.
The winners
COPD patients:
Valentina Coluccino (San Vitaliano, NA)
Ivana Dolciami (Città di Castello, PG)
Annamaria Nigro (Latina Cistern)
Caregivers:
Ilaria Di Donato (Lanciano, Chieti)
Teresa Averta (Vibo Valentia)
Rita De Fazio (Naples)
Healthcare personnel:
Alessia Morelli (Rome)
Alessandra Spagnolo (Genoa)
Laura Pini (Brescia).
“It’s not a man’s disease”: the voice of the institutions
President Barbaglia recalls that COPD «it’s not just a male disease. It affects more and more women and causes 3.23 million victims every year.”
The success of the competition confirms an urgent need: to speak, share, be seen.
Alongside the initiative, there is also politics. The Honorable Ilenia Malavasi present at the event, he said:«the stories reveal an extraordinary resilience. Telling stories means humanizing treatment paths.” The Senator Elena Murelli: «Writing is a bridge to awareness and inclusion. We need medicine that is more attentive and closer to the person.”
A new alliance: medicine, storytelling and prevention
Also supporting the project Chiesi Italy. CEO Raffaello Innocenti recalled: «Writing is a bridge towards inclusion. Our commitment is to health that takes gender differences into account.” On the jury, leading figures from Italian pneumology, from the world of culture and information: a sign that the COPD is not just a medical issue, but a social, cultural and identity one.
Why talk about it today? COPD remains invisible until it takes your breath away
Perhaps the most important data comes from the patients themselves: the 55% would be ready to adopt advanced digital tools to manage the disease, as long as they are simple and designed for women.
An awareness that opens up a new scenario: a more informed patient, more personalized medicine, more continuous, kinder, more human care. Because COPD is not a destiny: it is a challenge. And, as the authors of Writings in Pinkthe strength to face it comes precisely from shared stories.