Soriano JB, Kendrick PJ, Paulson KR, et al. - Researchers used data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017, to characterize the burden of chronic respiratory diseases globally, affording a comprehensive as well as up-to-date analysis on geographical and time trends from 1990 to 2017. Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, interstitial lung disease and pulmonary sarcoidosis, pneumoconiosis, and other chronic respiratory diseases, all were analyzed. Across GBD super-regions, a wide variability in the prevalence of chronic respiratory disease was evident, with the highest prevalence noted in both genders in high-income areas, and the lowest prevalence reported in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. Overall, on a global level, chronic respiratory diseases were identified to be a main reason for mortality as well as disability; findings revealed growth in absolute numbers but sharp reductions in various age-standardised estimators since 1990. Premature death due to chronic respiratory diseases appeared to be highest in areas with less-resourced health systems on a per-capita basis.