More people die from respiratory diseases such as asthma and pneumonia in Ireland, than in any other European country, according to the European Respiratory Society (ERS).
The European Lung White Book, which was launched by the ERS yesterday, shows that the only countries where there was a higher death rate were the former Soviet Union countries Kyrgzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Ireland.
Respiratory diseases include among others lung cancer, asthma, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
There is growing concern among some health professionals that governments are ignoring respiratory disease because they have prioritised heart disease and cancer.
Prof Luke Clancy, a consultant respiratory physician, and a leading anti-smoking lobbyist, believes this to be the case in Ireland.
"The Government is absolutely not giving priority to tackling respiratory diseases including lung cancer. We have 1,500 deaths from lung cancer a year and less than 700 deaths from breast cancer - even among women there are as many deaths from lung cancer as from breast cancer, yet there is no specific lung cancer budget, and no resources allocated to that disease.
"Lung cancer, COPD and TB are all smoking-related illnesses, and it's been shown that smoking is a socio-economic disease. People with these illnesses have under- access to health care, and are without a powerful lobby group such as the Breast Cancer Group.
"The breast cancer lobby is very powerful and vocal and largely a middle class phenomenon. It's no co-incidence that St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin 4 is the biggest breast cancer hospital; St James's is the biggest lung cancer hospital, and it's in Dublin 8."