The BOLD initiative is designed to provide a means to collect high-quality, country-specific data on the prevalence and social and economic burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) using strictly standardized, tested methods. BOLD data will enable governments and the private sector to make policy decisions on how to provide adequate and appropriate care for those suffering from COPD.
 
COPD prevalence is generally higher than is recognized by health authorities because prevalence estimates have mostly relied on self-reported doctor-diagnosis, a notoriously unreliable source of information for COPD. There is an urgent need for reliable prevalence data obtained from population-based surveys using carefully standardized methods.
 
The BOLD Initiative offers standardized methods for prevalence of COPD and an Operations Center that works with sites to plan, train and carry out surveys, and analyze the data. It will also offer an interactive model of the economic burden of COPD that will be available to all.
 
The Operations Center for the BOLD Initiative is funded by unrestricted educational grants from pharmaceutical companies to the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon.