There are over 40 different guidelines from different countries on diagnosis and management of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The guidelines formulated by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) are perhaps the most popular and global in nature. The need to formulate a different set of guidelines for India was felt because of the differences in risk factors, disease prevalence and pattern, and above all, the different overall health-care infrastructure. Moreover, a large burden of tuberculosis, which is an important cause of cough, adds to the difficulties of diagnosis and management.

These guidelines have been developed at the initiative of WHO (India) under the WHO-Government of India Biennium (2002-2003) programme. A consensus workshop was held in December 2002 with representative participation from several national professional bodies, medical colleges, general health sector, and other institutes. The recommendations were subsequently compiled and reviewed by the participants and other experts.

The guidelines essentially incorporate general GOLD recommendations. The major alterations include a greater stress on clinical criteria, exclusion of diagnosis of tuberculosis, and a three-tier approach at different levels of health care, especially the primary and secondary care levels. It is hoped that the recommendations will help the physicians of all hues to effectively manage COPD.