On 17th April 2021, EPF Members gathered online for the 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM). EPF-European Patient Forum is a strong and transparent pan-European organisation that Dystonia Europe is a member of. President Adam Kalinowski and Operations Manager Merete Avery participated in the meeting, representing Dystonia Europe.
EPF has a Board of 9 volunteers and a Secretariat of 20 people, with Marco Greco re-elected as President. The organisation promotes a Strong Patient’s Voice to Drive Better Health in Europe. The EPF Secretariat executes the Annual Work Programme and works to support and inform the members. EPF’s AGM plays a key role in the governing process of the organisation, approving the annual report and the financial report from the past year, as well as the budget and work plan for the coming year.
At the AGM the focus areas in 2020 were presented. Some of them are COVID 19, Focus on Access, Safety and Patients’ Rights, the EU4Health Program.
Engagement with EU Health Strategy with focus on big data, artificial intelligence, will also be on the agenda of the EPF Congress in the autumn 2021.
EPF’s Director of Policy Kaisa Immonen gave an overview of the EU4Health Programme providing the most pressing objectives for patients. EPF continues to engage actively with the European Commission through workshops, webinars and task force meetings. The open dialogue will continue as EPF’s patient advocacy work is at the forefront of their mission.
The updates on the Pharmaceutical Strategy were outlined, and a summary was given on the new EU Agency – Health Emergency Response Authority (HERA).
You can learn more about the projects that European Patient’s Forum currently are participating in here https://www.eu-patient.eu/Projects/ongoing-projects/ .
If you want to learn more about EPF, please follow this link https://www.eu-patient.eu/.
Merete Avery, Operations Manager
