American Lung Association

Introduction 

The American Lung Association (ALA) is a not-for-profit organization that seeks to save the lives of the American and global community by actively improving lung health and preventing related diseases. The organization is able to achieve this through advocacy, conducting research, and extensive education to affected populations along with those at risk. The ALA was chosen as it relates to my professional field in pulmonary sales. Similar to other non-profit firms, the American Lung Association through its numerous operations provides value to the patients it serves in support, guidance, and informational standpoint. Over the years, the ALA has hosted multiple events that I have had the pleasure of attending. Therefore, this project will provide a greater understanding of the activities taking place internally that help in realizing the goals set by the organization (Tanner et al., 2016). There are a number of non-profit organizations that have incorporated business models that enable them to generate revenue. Through the provision of fees for services or products provides, the firm can continue benefiting the population it serves. However, this project will focus on the ALA that does not provide any service or product hence it will help me understand how they generate capital to help serve the global population. 

Mission 

The not-for-profit organization has an integral mission of saving the lives of the global population by improving lung health and preventing incidence of lung diseases. The work of the organization has been to focus on distinct strategic imperatives that will help in the realization of its vision of a world free of lung diseases (American Lung Association, 2017a). They include defeating lung cancer, improving the quality of air we breathe, alleviating the burden of lung disease on individuals and their respective families, eliminating the use of tobacco and its related diseases, and accelerating funding along with organizational effectiveness that together support the urgency of its cause. By working to defeat lung cancer, ALA serves both men and women as it is the number one cancer killer in the US. Approximately two thirds of those diagnosed with the disease have either never smoked or are former smokers (American Lung Association, 2017a). Through LUNG FORCE, the firm promotes public awareness and fundraising initiatives. The organization also serves more than 32 million Americans who are affected by chronic lung diseases including asthma and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Nearly 24 million Americans including six million children are affected by asthma. Additionally, 8.5 million adults have been diagnosed with COPD though the number could increase to 18 million as many have been undiagnosed (American Lung Association, 2017a). The ALA actively protects the general public from unhealthy air pollution through its support of the Clean Air Act and the operations of the US Environmental Protection Agency. As a result, it ensures all Americans have clean air to breathe. The formal mission statement is “To save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease”. 

History 

The American Lung Association has a rich history of over 110 years as America’s leading force in fighting for healthy lungs and air to breathe. In this regard, ALA helps in searching for cures to associated lung diseases, fighting for laws and policies that protect the quality of air, and preventing children from engaging in abuse of tobacco (American Lung Association, 2017b). The organization identifies the importance of the American spirit of working together to improve better health and achieve longer quality life for all. The ALA was founded in 1904 and immediately became a revolutionary concept by becoming a national organization to fight a single disease. At the time, Tuberculosis was a feared illness that was killing adults and children, the rich and poor (American Lung Association, 2017b). To combat the disease, a group of physicians and concerned citizens came together to form the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis that later became the American Lung Association. 

The organization would become an integral force over 50 years in the development and funding of effective measures to detect, prevent, and treat the disease. In so doing, the efforts of Edward Livingston Trudeau, Robert Hall Babcock, Henry Martyn Hall, Lawrence Flick, and S. Adolphus Knopf as founders of the organization would be achieved (American Lung Association, 2017b). The not-for-profit organization continued to incorporate their expertise in targeting other lung related diseases that could prevent the achievement of lung health. Some of the firm’s discoveries include effective new treatment for children with TB, cause of infant respiratory stress syndrome, gene associated with cystic fibrosis, and a lung cancer causing oncogene along with treatment that hinders the growth of cancer cells (American Lung Association, 2017b). ALA has also been active in creating conditions that will prevent lung diseases such as preventing smoking in domestic air flights, strengthening the Clean Air Act, advocating for the Tobacco Control Act that regulates marketing, sale, manufacture, and promotion of tobacco products, and launching the LUNG FORCE campaign that unites women against lung cancer (American Lung Association, 2017b). 

Current Position 

The American Lung Association has offices in every single state across the US with the headquarters located in Chicago, IL. There are over 32,000 members who volunteer their time to serve in various capacities to the needs of the national population. Over the past four decades, the death rate of lung cancer has risen 94% among women while falling 32% among men (Wong, Lao, Ho, Goggins, & Shelly, 2017). As a result, the LUNG FORCE campaign was established to unite women against lung cancer and achieving overall lung health. The organization has also been active in preventing, detecting, and treating Asthma and COPD which affects 24 million and 8.5 million Americans respectively. However, it served individuals affected by pneumonia, common flue, and those who seek to stop smoking (Tanner et al., 2016). The national Lung HelpLine that incorporates registered nurses, respiratory therapists, and certified tobacco treatment specialists and counselors will help receive calls on issues and illnesses associated with lung health. 

References 

American Lung Association (2017a) Mission, Impact, & History . Retrieved from http://www.lung.org/about-us/mission-impact-and-history/ 

American Lung Association (2017b) Mission, Impact, & History: Our History . Retrieved from http://www.lung.org/about-us/mission-impact-and-history/our-history.html 

Tanner, N. T., Kanodra, N. M., Gebregziabher, M., Payne, E., Halbert, C. H., Warren, G. W., ... & Silvestri, G. A. (2016). The association between smoking abstinence and mortality in the National Lung Screening Trial. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 193 (5), 534-541. 

Wong, M. C., Lao, X. Q., Ho, K. F., Goggins, W. B., & Shelly, L. A. (2017). Incidence and mortality of lung cancer: global trends and association with socioeconomic status. Scientific Reports, 7 (1), 14300.