Canadian Lung Association

Canadian Lung Association

Canadian Lung Association, Canada's first national voluntary health organization, was founded in 1900. Its roots were in the former Canadian Tuberculosis Association. Initially its aim was to provide facilities for the care of tuberculosis patients through sanatoria and diagnostic and treatment clinics (at the beginning of the century, TB was the main cause of death in Canada).

Since 1927 Christmas Seals have been used to raise the necessary funds; the annual Christmas Seal Campaign is the chief method of support for lung associations across Canada. The Canadian Lung Association now directs its efforts towards public-awareness campaigns designed to prevent or reduce the effects of smoking-induced illness and other lung diseases caused by the environment. Educational and awareness programs are conducted for children and adults with asthma, emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

Special interest groups within the association are the Canadian Thoracic Society, the Canadian Nurses' Respiratory Society and the Canadian Physiotherapy Cardio-Respiratory Society. A research grants and fellowships program was established in 1959 to promote research into any field of acute or chronic lung disease.