As the world commemorated the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) on November 14, a specialist physician, Dr Washington Chiguye from Gaborone Private Hospital says that the disease is not prevalent in Botswana.

He said that the most common cause of this disease is smoking. Ninety-five percent of patients who have it are smokers and only a small group of people get it through occupational exposure. According to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), COPD is used to describe prolonged airflow obstruction that is mainly associated with chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The lung disease is said to be a leading health problem which causes significant disability. Chiguye said it is not a common condition in Botswana but there is a need to make people more aware.