Lung Foundation Netherlands

Longfonds (Lung Foundation Netherlands) is a Dutch health fund and patient organisation focused on lung health and clean air. It was founded in 1959 as the Astma Fonds and adopted its current name in January 2013. The organisation is based in Amersfoort, Netherlands, and operates nationally. Its mission is expressed through three societal goals: healthy living, self-management for people with lung disease, and real solutions through medical breakthroughs. In the Netherlands, approximately 1.2 million people live with a lung disease such as asthma or COPD. Longfonds supports them with information and tips to help them take control of their lives and participate in society as much as possible. It also campaigns for a smoke-free environment and healthy air, arguing that no one should become ill from the air they breathe. The foundation drives medical research aimed at repairing damaged lung tissue and preventing lung diseases in the future. Longfonds has more than 2,700 active volunteers, 48,000 collectors, and around 85 paid employees. It collaborates with other organisations, including companies, research partners, and other health funds. It participated in Stivoro until 2013 and has since been involved in Stoptober. It works with the Hartstichting and KWF on the Gezondheidsfondsen voor Rookvrij, and with the Long Alliantie Nederland and the Samenwerkende GezondheidsFondsen (SGF). The organisation also runs public-facing tools such as an air-quality check that lets people see what they are breathing in at a chosen location.

Longfonds was founded in 1959 as the Astma Fonds, a Dutch health fund dedicated to asthma and later to broader lung health. For decades it operated under that name, building a national network of volunteers and collectors and funding research into chronic lung diseases. In January 2013 the organisation changed its name to Longfonds, reflecting a broader focus on lung health and clean air rather than asthma alone. Around the same period, its collaboration with Stivoro, the Dutch expertise centre on tobacco control, ended in 2013; since then Longfonds has participated in Stoptober, the annual smoking-cessation campaign. The organisation has continued to work with partners such as the Hartstichting and KWF on the Gezondheidsfondsen voor Rookvrij (Health Funds for a Smoke-Free Generation), and with the Long Alliantie Nederland and the Samenwerkende GezondheidsFondsen (SGF). Today Longfonds describes its mission through three societal effects: healthy living, self-management for people with lung disease, and real solutions through medical breakthroughs. It supports the approximately 1.2 million people in the Netherlands living with a lung disease such as asthma or COPD, runs public campaigns for smoke-free environments and clean air, and funds research aimed at repairing damaged lung tissue and preventing lung diseases. The foundation is based in Amersfoort and has more than 2,700 active volunteers, 48,000 collectors, and around 85 paid employees.

• 2013

  Renamed to Longfonds in January; participation in Stivoro ended.

• 2013

  Began participation in Stoptober.

• 1959

  Founded as Astma Fonds.

A national health fund and patient organisation advocating for healthy lungs, clean air, and medical breakthroughs for chronic lung diseases.

• Air quality check tool

  An online tool allowing users to check what they are breathing in at a chosen location.

1. 1Gezonde lucht is van levensbelang | Longfondslongfonds.nl
2. 2Longfonds - Wikipedianl.wikipedia.org
3. 3Lung Foundation Netherlands - Wikidatawikidata.org