The BOLD (Burden of Lung Disease) initiative is collecting country-specific data on the prevalence, risk factors and social and economic burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It uses strictly standardized, tested methods. BOLD will provide governments and the voluntary and private sectors with country-specific evidence on which to develop policy for both disease prevention and the provision of adequate and appropriate care for those suffering from COPD.

COPD prevalence is generally underestimated by health authorities because prevalence estimates have mostly relied on self-reported doctor-diagnosis, a notoriously unreliable source of information for COPD. There is an urgent need for reliable prevalence data obtained from population-based surveys using carefully standardized methods. There is also a need to understand the main causes of disease in different regions.

The BOLD Initiative offers standardized methods for assessing the prevalence of COPD and an Operations Centre that works with sites to plan, train and carry out surveys and analyze the data. It will also offer an interactive model of the economic burden of COPD that will be available to all.