LONDON (Reuters Health) – British doctors accused the Department of Health on Wednesday of discriminating against patients with lung disease and blamed ministers for allowing lung conditions to become the biggest killer in the UK.

A report published by the British Thoracic Society (BTS) shows that lung disease, which includes asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cystic fibrosis and lung cancer, among other conditions, kills one in four people in the UK.

These conditions have now outstripped coronary heart disease and other cancers as the number one cause of death. UK death rates are among the highest in Europe.

Lung disease is the most common reason for GP visits and is estimated to cost the NHS £2.5bn each year, the report shows. The number of women in the UK dying from lung conditions rose by 28% between 1984 and 1998, and death rates from lung cancer in UK women are currently twice the European average.

The report, entitled The Burden of Lung Disease, suggests that the government's failure to prioritise lung disease and recruit more specialists is to blame for the rise. The authors have called for extra money and more doctors to stem the increase in deaths among patients with respiratory conditions.

The BTS said current funding levels were 'hugely inadequate' and called for the number of doctors to be trebled and brought into line with European levels in an effort to tackle the problem.

Professor Duncan Geddes, president of the BTS, urged the government to take action. "With investment and improvements already pledged for heart disease and cancer, these statistics prove in black and white that this government is discriminating by disease area in the NHS."

"The lack of a national programme of treatment and care for respiratory disease, together with a severe shortage of chest specialists, nurses and physiotherapists, is causing patients with a lung disease to suffer unnecessarily," he said in a statement.

BTS chairman Dr Martyn Partridge added in a statement: "We don't know why death rates are so high but it cannot be a coincidence that we have one third of the number of lung specialists compared to Europe."

"In this country, an acceptance of lung disease has gone on too long. Look at the figures in France, Germany, Italy. That's what really hurts," he said.

But Professor Sir Charles George, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said heart disease remained the single biggest killer among 35 to 74 year olds. "It is vital that this message is not diluted."

In a statement, he added: "There is no doubt about the importance of lung disease as a cause of death and suffering. However, smoking is a common link between heart disease, many cancers and chest disease such as chronic bronchitis and emphysema."