However, Ms Robison believes the condition that has 90,000 sufferers in Scotland isn’t being given a high enough priority on the Executive’s healthcare agenda.

COPD is a group of lung diseases involving limited airflow and varying degrees of air sac enlargement, airway inflammation, and lung tissue destruction.

New figures released by the Scottish Executive show 2752 people died of COPD across the country last year, including 238 in Tayside and 190 in Fife.

“I’ve put down a motion in parliament supporting calls by the British Lung Foundation Scotland for the Executive to provide adequate funding for the roll out of Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs) for COPD to provide effective joined up care for people with the condition.

“Effective management of COPD in the community through MCNs could reduce the number of emergency hospitalisations and, where admission is unavoidable, reduce the number of bed days.

“In England the Chief Medical Officer has recommended an National Service Framework (NSF) for COPD where prevalence is proportionally less, yet (Health Minister) Andy Kerr has said no to COPD being made one of the key clinical priorities, despite the fact it’s the third biggest killer in Scotland.”

Ms Robison said people are four times more likely to have COPD if they are from a poor area and 64% of sufferers are dead within five years of their first admission.

The leading cause of COPD is smoking, which can lead to the two most common forms of this disease, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

“COPD costs the NHS around £138 million a year and takes up around 122,000 bed days,” she said. “A lot of these could be prevented through providing home support services at less cost.

“In a city like Dundee, because of high levels of deprivation, folk should be getting the support they require to prolong their lives and at the moment it’s not being made a priority.”

Health Minister Andy Kerr said, “The most effective way of improving services for those with COPD is for organisations representing their interests to engage with community health partnerships and with the LongTerm Conditions Alliance for Scotland.”

Ms Robison said the Executive’s mortality figures were not accurate and, according to the British Lung Foundation Scotland, 4500 people die every year of COPD.

In the past five years, according to the executive, 2193 people in Tayside and Fife have died of COPD. Over 900,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with COPD, and an estimated 2.1 million are unaware they have it.

Andrew Powrie-Smith, head of the British Lung Foundation Scotland, said Scotland has the most COPD in the developed world.

A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said cough, phlegm and shortness of breath could be symptoms of COPD.

“Some people may only notice their symptoms in winter, or they might put them down to bronchitis or ‘smoker’s cough’.

“This means they might not seek help at an early stage of the disease. The sooner people seek treatment the better. A simple breathing test can indicate whether your airways have narrowed, and this can usually be done at your GP surgery.”