Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) affects around 3 million people in the UK - and over 2 million of those are undiagnosed - yet very few people have heard of it.

Stephen McPartland, Member of Parliament for Stevenage said "I myself have asthma, and as a new MP in 2010 I was keen to do what I could to raise respiratory health up the political agenda. This led to me founding the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Respiratory Health.

"APPGs are a good way to bring parliamentarians together on a particular issue. They are informal, cross-party groups and over 70 of my colleagues have signed up; that is one-in-nine MPs. We decided that the first priority for the group was to look closely at respiratory deaths in England and what could be done to prevent them. We held a year-long inquiry and our report was published in Parliament earlier this year.

"World COPD Day on 19th November provides an opportunity to reflect both on how far we have come, but also the work we have still got to do. For my part, I will continue to campaign for a step-change in the support available for people with COPD, so we can save more lives."

Click here if you would like to help Stephen make a difference