EPF’s Annual Meeting welcomes six new Members and elects four new Board Members
Brussels, 22 May 2013 – The 2013 EPF Annual General Meeting (AGM)’s assembly has welcomed six new members - two Full Members, three Associate Members and one Provisional Member and (re-)elected four members of the Board for a two year term.
EPF members re-elected Marco Greco (European Federation of Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis Associations), Robert Johnstone (National Voices), Vida Augustiniene (Council of Representatives of Patients' Organizations of Lithuania) as Board Members.
Stanimir Hasurdjiev (National Patients Organisation – Bulgaria) will replace Maria Navarro (Spanish Patients’ Forum) as a new Board Member. About his election he said “Thanks to my experience gained at one of the largest umbrella patient organization in Bulgaria, I understand the issues that patients from our region face. I will also help EPF diminish the health inequalities gap throughout the European Union and ensuring equal access to treatment and care for patients.”
Current board members, Anders Olauson, EPF President Susanna Palkonen, EPF Vice President, Tomasz Szelągowski, EPF Treasurer, Philip Chircop ( Malta Health Network) and Avril Daly ( Retina Europe) will continue their mandate for a further year.
The AGM approved several new membership requests. We welcome two new Full Members: the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and the Pulmonary Hypertension Association Europe (PHA Europe). We also welcome three new Associate Members: the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC), the European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA) and the Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG). Finally we accepted a new Provisional Member from Italy, which is the Associazione Persone Con Malattie Reumatiche Onlus (APMAR).
It means that EPF now represents 61 official members which represent specific chronic disease groups at EU level or are national coalitions of patients.
The AGM approved the 2012 Annual Report which documents all the EPF activities during the past year and also the 2014-2020 Strategic Plan that will forge our direction and focus during the next EU Programming period. These documents will be available on EPF website as from 3 June 2013.
For more information, please contact Nicola Bedlington, EPF Executive Director, nicola.bedlington@eu-patient.eu.
More information about our new Members
Full Member - International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF)
IOF is a registered not-for-profit, non-governmental foundation based in Switzerland. IOF functions as a global alliance of patient societies, research organizations, healthcare professionals and international companies working to promote bone, muscle and joint health.
Full Members - Pulmonary Hypertension Association Europe (PHA Europe)
PHA Europe is the European umbrella organization for pulmonary hypertension. It was founded in 2003 and is registered in Vienna, Austria, as an international non-profit organization. PHA Europe has 25 national member associations from 22 European countries.
Associate Member: Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC)
AMRC is a membership organisation of the leading medical and health research charities in the UK. Working with its member charities and partners, the AMRC aims to support the sector’s effectiveness and advance medical research by developing best practice, providing information and guidance, improving public dialogue about research and science, and influencing government.
Associate Member: European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA)
EFNA brings together European umbrella organisations of neurological patient advocacy groups, to work with other associations in the field of neurology, including the European Federation of Neurological Societies (EFNS), in what has been termed a “Partnership for Progress“.
Associate Member: Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG)
The Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG) is an umbrella group of medical research and patient support charities, which represents the joint interests of charities specialising in restoring health through medical research, diagnosis and treatment and, where possible, the prevention of disease. A core belief of the group is that today's health research is tomorrow's healthcare.
Provisional Member: Associazione Persone Con Malattie Reumatiche Onlus (APMAR)
APMAR is an Italian association that works both at the national and European level. AMPAR counts approximately 3000 members, mainly people with autoimmune rheumatic diseases, in Italy and is part of the main boards of patients with rheumatic diseases in Europe.